Don't Look Back
by Kalira423
Summary: She had to keep running to protect what she was given. But that changed when she met yoko and lost his bet. Now she was his servant. But can she stop running from them, and her heart?
1. Running

Satira ran through the forest, hastily pushing branches out of the way.

Shouts of "She went this way!" and "Hurry! Don't let her get away" followed the cat demon as she urged herself to move faster. Her hand reached up and closed around the small silver heart shaped locket around her neck. It had become a habit when she was nervous. It was all she had to remind her of her parents and she would never part with it. Never! Not even if it cost her her life! She risked a look back and clutched it tighter. By the looks of it, if she didn't find a way to lose them soon, she would lose her life. But she had promised not to part with it and she would keep that promise. She jumped into a tree and hid in the leaves. With any luck, if she stayed still long enough; they would go right under her. She leaned against the tree with a small sigh and looked at the locket. She wiped away a small tear that trickled down her cheek as she remembered her parents.

---------Flashback-------

_"Satira, this is yours now."_ _Her mother said as she placed the locket around her daughter's neck. _

_"You must protect it at all costs!" her father said. The young Satira looked at it then at her parents. _

_"What does it do?" she asked. _

_"It's a key, to unlock a deadly power. It was entrusted to us, the royal family to guard it, and now it is yours." Her mother said. The young girl wrapped her hands around it and nodded. _

_"I will guard it. I promise." She said._

_"Never part with it." Her father warned as she gave another nod. _

------End Flashback-------

Things had been so much easier then. Before the raiders came. They destroyed Cat City. Everything was reduced to rubble and ash. Her parents had told her to run and they stayed behind to ward them off. And now they were dead. Everyone was. She was the last surviving member of the royal family. She had been running for forever it seemed like. But it had only been a couple of years. A couple of years had turned the once princess of Cat City in a fighter. She situated the sword at her side and held her breath as a snapping of twigs below signaled someone's presence. Her cat ears strained to hear any sounds and her black and white striped tail twitched anxiously. She waited a few more hours before finally coming out of the tree. She moved through the forest again, at a slower pace this time, starting to look for a place to stay for the night.

Yoko Kurama was in his room, sifting though the items from last night's thief. He held up a sapphire in the light and gazed at it.

_'Not a bad steal'_ he thought as he set it down and looked at the other jewels. Defiantly worth what he paid for information about the temple. He sifted through the other odds and ends when a knock on his door. He looked up with an irritated sigh.

"What?" he asked. The door opened to reveal his partner Kuroune.

"We have a trespasser." Kuroune said.

Yoko's fox ears perked with interest. "Oh?" he asked.

"Yep, one of the scouts saw her around the northern border."

"A her?" Yoko asked.

Kuroune nodded. "Yeah, and get this. It's a cat." Yoko smiled.

"Well then, let's go and greet our little trespasser, shall we?"

Kuroune smiled. "Yes." He answered as the two went to find her.


	2. lets make a deal

Satira walked calmly through the woods, glad that she had temporarily lost her pursuers. She may have eluded them, but they would find her again. And they wouldn't be alone. She gave a sigh. She hated running, but what other choice did she have? She was all alone, so fighting them off was out of the question. She may be a good fighter, but she wasn't that good. Getting help was also out of the question. No one was supposed to know that she was even guarding anything. When King Enma had given the job to her parents, he had instructed them to keep it a secret. How word had gotten out that her family possessed it she didn't know. One of the things on her to do list. But until that day, she was stuck running from them until she thought of a plan.

Yoko and Kuroune watched the cat from a few feet away. Yoko studied her intently. She was defiantly a cat demon. A tiger cat demon by the looks of it. Her ears were white with black stripes and matched her long slender tail. Her hair was brown and shoulder length, a little on the wavy side. She had a sword strapped to her side, and her clothes were torn. She looked like she had just been in a fight. She walked slowly as if she thought she was safe at the moment, or else she was just tired. Yoko smirked, this would be interesting.

"What king of weapon is that?" Kuroune whispered to him.

Yoko rolled his eyes. "It's a sword idiot!" he whispered back.

Kuroune glared at him. "I know that!" he hissed. "But look at it. It looks like she can take it apart." Yoko raised an eyebrow and concentrated on her weapon. Kuroune was right. Her sword that hung from her side looked like it could be taken apart.

Yoko shrugged. "I guess that means that the fight won't be hard to win." He said with a chuckle. Kuroune gave him a nod as they started to approach her.

Satira's ears perked up. Someone was coming. She gave a sniff to the air. It wasn't the raiders; they smelled like fish from living near the sea. No, she smelled something else…smelled like…roses?

She put her hand to her sword and looked around. She saw two figures emerge from the trees. She turned to face them, staring at the silver fox demon and the bat demon that accompanied him.

"Hello my dear." The fox said. "Do you know that you are trespassing?"

Satira took a step back. "Trespassing?" she repeated.

"Yes, this land belongs to Yoko Kurama." The bat said.

"Well what he doesn't know won't hurt him." She replied as she tried to move on. Yoko moved in front of her path.

"But I do know." He said, staring into her green eyes.

"I take it your Yoko Kurama." She said, a feeling of dread settling over her. He smirked as he nodded.

"And this is my partner, Kuroune." Yoko said indicating the bat who had his arms crossed, looking smug.

"Nice to meet you both." She said aggravated as she tried to step around Yoko. Yoko blocked her way again. Satira gave him a glare.

"There something else you wanted to tell me?" she asked annoyed.

"You're trespassing. We don't allow trespassers." Yoko said to her.

"And that means you must die." Kuroune added. Satira's mouth hung open as she looked between the two, trying to see if they were kidding.

"I'm not hurting anything!" she protested. "Can't I just pass through?" she asked wearily. She didn't have the time or the strength to deal with this right now. She has been running all night.

"I'll tell you what." Yoko said circling her. "We will make a deal. Me and you will fight. If I win, you must come back with me and serve me."

Satira was a little shocked at the proposition but tried to hide it. "And what's in it for me if I win?"

"Then you can pass through and as long as you are on my territory, no one will lift a hand to stop you." Yoko answered.

"What if I refuse to fight?" she questioned.

"Then we will kill you right here and now." Kuroune replied.

Satira looked at the fox, assessing him. He didn't have a weapon, but appearances could be deceiving. She didn't want to fight. The more time she had to put space between her and the raiders the better. But one look at Yoko's face and she knew she had no choice. She sighed and wrapped her fingers around her necklace for comfort. She really hoped she could beat him.

"Alright." She said taking out her sword. "Let's get this over with."


	3. the fight

Yoko was thrilled that she has agreed to the fight. He wasn't even really sure why he had made the offer in the first place, but made it he had and he was looking forward to having this cat around for a very long time to come. He watched her draw her weapon and close her hand around the locket she wore. He smirked.

'_Probably a nervous habit.'_ He thought to himself. She let go of the necklace and began to circle him; her sword ready in her right hand. Yoko watched her, waiting for her to strike first. Suddenly without warning, she struck. She ran at him with amazing speed and took a swipe at his right arm. He dodged as she turned and rushed at him again. Satira swung her sword in a wide arch, but missed him again. She frowned as she took a step back.

"Ok so he's fast." She muttered to herself. "Be he still doesn't have a weapon and that gives me the advantage."

Satira ran at him again, from the left this time and then swerved to the right. Yoko saw her sudden change in direction and leapt out of the way, narrowly missing the tip of her sword. He heard her give a growl of aggravation as she moved back once again and glared at him.

"You're playing with me!" she accused. Yoko had to fight to keep the laugh from rising. She was right, he was. He probably could have won by now, but he was having too much fun.

"Look!" she snapped at him. "I am in a hurry and I am only in this stupid little fight because I am being forced to, so can you stop playing around and fight me!" Yoko raised an eyebrow in amusement. So she really wanted a fight did she? Yoko nodded patronizingly.

"As you wish." He said with a bow, causing her to roll her eyes in annoyance. "But remember, you asked for this." he warned. Satira steeled herself and readied her sword again. She watched as Yoko seemingly pulled a rose from nowhere and held in between his fingers. She looked at him incredulously. He was going to fight her….with a flower? She rolled her eyes once again. Fine! If he wanted to be a jerk and keep playing then let him, but she was going to kick it up a notch and get this over with. She didn't have time to play his games. Especially if he was going to pretend to fight with a flower!

Yoko held the rose in his hands and watched her expression. He had seen that one before. Annoyance and irritation. But she would be surprised like all the rest when she found out what this flower could do. He smirked. How he was going to enjoy having her around. Satira moved her sword into a fighting position and ran at him again. He nimble leapt out of the way but let out a gasp of shock as her sword extended. He quickly recovered and dodged the extended weapon as it nicked his arm. A thin line of blood appeared as he moved out of her reach and looked at it in surprise. Kuroune, who had been watching with amusement, looked just as shocked as Yoko. Her weapon has just gotten longer.

"Surprised?" Satira asked Yoko. He looked up from his arm to frown at her. "My sword is more than what it seems." She pressed a small button on the side of the hilt and snapped her wrist. Her sword split into six segments with a flexible piece of wire between each, turning it into a metallic whip. "So don't underestimate me." She quipped as she let go of the button and her whip like sword returned to its original form. She crossed her arms looking smug. "Maybe this will teach you not to patronize me by pretending to fight with a flower!"

"I think you're the one who is underestimating me." Yoko said to her. She uncrossed her arms and looked uncertainly at the flower. Yoko held the flower and before Satira knew what was happening, Yoko was running at her with a vine-like whip. She gasped as she barely had time to move. The two started seriously dueling each other. Satira trying to slash him with her sword; Yoko trying to cut her with his whip. Neither was going to lose. Yoko flicked a small seed at Satira which hit her wrist. But she was so caught up in the fight that she failed to notice. Yoko smirked as he waited for the right moment. Satira charged at him as Yoko maneuvered himself behind her. Satira smiled. "I have you now!" she yelled as she hit the button and swung her once again whip-like sword around to slice him. Yoko concentrated his energy on the seed as vines instantly engulfed her sword, preventing it from transforming into a whip. Satira gasped in shock as Yoko wrapped his own whip around her sword and yanked it out of her grasp. Her eyes followed her vine covered sword as it arched in the air and landed a few feet away. She made a dash for it, but Yoko's whip wound around her ankle, tripping her. She fell to the ground with a thud and looked up to see Yoko's smirk.

"I won."


	4. A new home

Her eyes were wide with surprise then narrowed in anger as Yoko stood over her triumphantly. "I won." He stated as he transformed his whip back into a rose.

"And that means that you belong to me now." Satira got up with a huff.

"I don't belong to anyone!" she said. Yoko chuckled.

"According to the bet that you willingly made you do. You lost, so that means you are to serve me!" Satira was speechless; she had lost fair and square. But staying was out of the question. The raiders had already tracked her to this location, and just because she had lost them for the time being didn't mean they wouldn't come back. This is where they would start looking again. Satira avoided Yoko's gaze.

"I can't!" she protested. "I can't serve you!" Yoko raised an eyebrow.

"And why is that?" he asked.

Satira racked her mind wildly for a reasonably explanation. "I just…can't." she finished lamely. Kuroune walked over to them, an amused grin on his face.

"You just can't?" he questioned. "Come on, you must have a better excuse than that." Satira shot him a glare then looked down again.

"You made the deal and you lost." Yoko said. "So unless you can convince me with a better reason than I just can't, you're coming with me." Satira lowered her ears and tried to think of something she could say. Anything!

"So? Do you have a good reason or no?" Yoko asked, noting the look of worry that had crossed her face. Satira sighed, she didn't.

"No." she whispered. Yoko smiled. "Good, then grab your weapon and follow me." He instructed as he turned and started walking away. Satira walked over and picked up her vine covered sword, unwinding them, and then placing the sword back in it's sheath at her side. She then turned and slowly followed Yoko into the trees, her head hung low.

The journey to Yoko's den wasn't too long, but Satira avoided looking at Yoko or Kuroune. She silently refused to say a single word and immediately began forming a plan to get away. The closer they got the den, the more guards she saw. She grew more hopeless at any chance of escaping. Guards were everywhere. But she would find a way, she had to. They made it to the front gate and Satira tried to ignore all the stares she was receiving. She continued to look at the ground and missed the glare Yoko shot at anyone who smiled in the cat demon's direction. A silent warning to them that this cat was off limits. Once inside she took a quick look at her new surroundings. Hallways led out from a central room and turned every which way and that. Yoko seemed confident as to where he was going and Satira followed, wondering how she would ever get anywhere. The entire place was like a labyrinth. They stopped at an intersection of hallways and Yoko turned to Kuroune.

"I'll meet you in the meeting room." He said to the bat demon. Kuroune looked knowingly at Satira as she ducked her head. He then gave a nod to Yoko and moved off down a different hall.

"Follow me." Yoko said to Satira as they started moving down another hall.

"You will be staying in the servant's quarters." Yoko said to her. Satira didn't answer as they continued walking. Yoko looked at her from the corner of his eye as they made it to the end of the hallway. They stood in front of a door and Yoko opened it to reveal an empty room with two beds.

"You will have a roommate. She will explain how things are done. You will report to me first thing in the morning." Satira gave no indication that she had heard him as she started to silently walk into the room. Yoko roughly grabbed her wrist and swung her around to face him. She stared at him with shocked green eyes and he saw a flicker of fear.

"You will answer me when I speak to you." He ordered her in a low voice. "I will not tolerate the silent treatment. Understood!" Satira nodded and tried to hide her fear as she bit her lip.

"I said understood!" Yoko asked again.

"Understood." Satira replied in a whisper. Yoko nodded and let go of her wrist. "I suggest you rest well. You will have a busy day tomorrow." He said as he turned back down the hall. Satira turned to go into the room when Yoko's voice stopped her.

"Oh, and don't bite you lip." He added as Satira threw a scowl in his direction and shut the door behind her. She dropped on one of the beds, exhausted and buried her face in a pillow, fighting her tears. How was she going to get out of this mess?


	5. a new friend

Yoko walked to the meeting room to talk with Kuroune and thought of his new acquisition. The cat demon had a little bit of an attitude but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. But by the stares of the other thieves as he walked with her home, keeping her out of the hands of the others would be a task. He could see why they would be interested, for a cat, she was pretty. Not that he wanted her or anything; he just didn't want to end up with a pregnant cat on his hands. But then again, he did wonder what it would be like to kiss that lip that she bit when she was nervous. He shook his head and entered the meeting room.

"You get her settled in?" Kuroune asked as Yoko shut the door behind him.

"I put her in with Alianne." Yoko replied, moving to sit in his chair.

Kuroune nodded. "Good, if anyone can de-claw that cat she can." Yoko smiled.

"I don't think she is going to hard. She seems obedient enough." Yoko said.

"Or just passive aggressive." Kuroune responded. Yoko rolled his eyes.

"What jobs are you going to give her?" Kuroune asked.

"I think I am going to have her clean the kitchen, library, and the common rooms. I also might have her straighten my room."

"Good, bout time someone did. It's a mess!" Kuroune joked.

"Like you can talk!" Yoko shot back.

"Fine, have her clean my room." Kuroune said. "Maybe she can make my bed while I am still in it." He added with a smirk. Yoko instantly stood up, slamming his hands down on the table.

"Keep your hands off the cat!" He said. Kuroune looked at him strangely. "I was just kidding." He said. Yoko slowly lowered himself back down looking relieved.

"I know." He said.

"You know I prefer dogs to cats." Kuroune said with a grin. "But I know _you_ like cats."

"What is that supposed to mean!" Yoko asked him, sending him a glare.

Kuroune shook his head and turned his back. "Nothing, just making conversation." He then turned to face his partner.

"She is quite a looker isn't she?" Kuroune asked slyly. Yoko nodded absentmindedly.

"Yes," he answered. "But I brought her here to clean, not mate!" he added. Kuroune held up his hands. "Did I say otherwise?" Kuroune turned and walked to the door.

"I'll see you in the morning. We need to start planning our next thief." Yoko nodded.

"Right, see you tomorrow." Yoko said as Kuroune left the room.

Satira lifted her head from the pillow as the door to her room opened to reveal a girl about her age. She had a long scaly tail and two horns on her head that curled back over ears. She had black hair and friendly red eyes.

"Hi." She said entering the room and closing the door behind her. "You must be the cat who lost the duel with Yoko."

Satira sighed and looked out the window dismally. "Don't remind me"

"Hey, it's not that bad!" the girl said sitting on the bed next to her. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Alianne." She said. Satira looked at the outstretched hand and shook it. "Satira." She replied.

"Pretty name." Alianne said. "You made quite a stir today." She said standing up.

"I did?" Satira questioned.

Alianne nodded. "Yup. A lot of the thieves are waiting to get a look at Yoko's new servant. When he catches someone trespassing without permission, he doesn't normally bring them home." Alianne had a feeling she knew why he had brought her home, and after seeing how pretty Satira was she was certain. Yoko was attracted to her. He may be too thick to notice it right off, but she would bet her life that by the end of the month Yoko would have himself a mate.

"I'm just lucky that way." Satira said sarcastically.

"Hey, living here isn't the end of the world. You could do a lot worse." Alianne said as she dressed for bed.

"I guess so." Satira said. She reached up and closed her hand around her necklace with a sigh. Alianne looked at her for a moment and then sat on the bed across from her.

"Why don't you get some sleep? Things will look better in the morning."

"I might as well." Satira replied. Alianne gave her a reassuring look. "Things will be ok. Yoko isn't hard to serve as long as you do what you're told."

"Thanks." Satira said lying down. Alianne smiled and lay down on her bed.

"And tomorrow, I'll show you where everything is. And I bet that once you get used to it, you'll like it here." Alianne then turned over and fell asleep. Satira stared out the window and smiled. At least she had something like a friend now, and for once, she wasn't totally alone.


	6. getting the days chores

The next morning came too early for Satira, as Alianne shook her.

"Come on Satira, time to get up. You were supposed to be up thirty minutes ago!" The dragon demon said as she continued to shake her. Satira rolled over with a groan and looked at her roommate with sleepy eyes.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Almost 6:30 and you slept in at that." Alianne replied.

"What!" Satira yelled sitting up. "I have to get up at 6 every morning!"

"Not every morning." Alianne said. "On Sunday you can sleep in." Satira lay back down with a sigh and pulled the blankets over her head.

"Come on Satira!" Alianne said, tugging at the blankets. "Yoko left me instructions for you to meet him in the meeting room as soon as you were up. That was thirty minutes ago."

"He can wait!" Satira snapped as she threw the blankets off and stood up.

"He isn't going to like that you overslept. And he hates waiting." Alianne said moving over to the closet.

"Like I really care what he likes or dislikes." Satira said as Alianne threw her some clothes.

"That is your uniform. Put it on, and I will take you to Yoko's meeting room. He will give you your chores for the day and then I will show you where those places are." Satira nodded as she pulled on the black shirt and skirt and then tied the white apron on. She looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"I am not leaving this room looking like this!" she yelled as she spun around to face Alianne.

"You have too! All the servant girls wear that. See?" she pointed to her own attire and Satira saw she was wearing the same thing except a different color.

"But the skirt! It's too short! And the neckline isn't short enough!" Satira said as she tugged at the hem of her skirt. Alianne rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Have you forgotten where we are? This is a den of thieves! They like it that way! Yoko has strict rules on anyone dating the servant girls but to make up, we have to wear this."

"I am not wearing this!" Satira spat in anger, crossing her arms. Alianne grabbed her elbow and led her out the room.

"Look, your going to go talk to Yoko, so you can talk to him about it." Satira followed Alianne down the hall, all the time fussing with her skirt and getting madder.

She was going to let Yoko have a piece of her mind. They stopped in front of a pair of huge wooden doors and Alianne knocked.

"Come in." came the aggravated reply as Alianne pushed open the doors and pushed Satira in, closing them behind her.

Yoko was in a bad mood. He had expected to meet with Satira by six, and then go and meet with Kuroune and another friend by 6:30. But the little cat had made him late, and he hated being late. And he hated waiting even more. He looked up at the knock and issued the order to enter. He saw the doors push open as Alianne pushed an unwilling Satira inside and then closed the doors. He looked at her in the servant outfit and for a moment couldn't stop staring. She was tugging at the hemline and when she looked up at him, he could tell that he wasn't the only one in a bad mood.

"What is the big idea! Making me wear this!" She yelled at him. Yoko had to fight to control the smirk that teased the corners of his mouth.

"All of my servants wear that, and you are no different." He said lazily. "Besides, I think it looks good on you." What he didn't say was that he was glad he would be gone for the day, because if he had to spend the entire day here with her going around in that, he wouldn't be able to concentrate.

Satira flushed at the compliment but crossed her arms and glared at him.  
"Just tell me what I am supposed to do!" she huffed.

"You are to clean the kitchens, common rooms, library, and…" he paused for a moment and looked up to see her reaction. "My room." Satira blushed at the fact that she was cleaning his room but hid it.

"Fine!" was all she said as she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Yoko's voice stopped her. Satira heaved a sigh and turned to face him.

"I haven't dismissed you." Yoko said evenly.

"Fine!" she snapped. "Am I dismissed?"

"No, I'm not done talking." He said as he stood up and walked over to her. Satira stiffened as he circled her and she could smell his scent of roses. "You have had a little bit of an attitude since you have been here Satira." Yoko said. "And I won't tolerate it. You better straighten up or I will be forced to punish you." Satira avoided his eyes and put her hand to her necklace. Yoko noticed her nervousness and stepped away, but not far. "When I get back today I want those rooms spotless! And I don't want to hear that you have been causing problems or trying to escape." Yoko reached out and tilted her chin up to look at him.

"Is that understood?" Satira's green eyes met his golden ones and she felt her heart beat faster.

"Understood." She said in a wavering voice as he flashed her a smile. "That's my girl." He said as he stepped past her and down to meet Kuroune and his friend.

Satira stood still for a moment, still able to feel where he had touched her. She shook her head as Alianne stepped in. "Satira?"

"Coming." She answered as she followed Alianne to the kitchen a small smile on her face. "What are you smiling at?" Alianne asked.

Satira shook her head. "Nothing." She answered as she smiled again. '_He…he called me his girl.'_


	7. getting revenge

The little blush that had graced Satira's cheeks when Yoko had called her his girl faded as soon as she saw the kitchens. Her mouth hung open in shock at the mess it was in. Food was everywhere. Dirty pots and pans littered the sinks and countertops. Trash was overflowing from the trashcan, surrounding it, and all over the floor.

"This is the kitchen!" Satira said in shock. "It's a wreck!"

"This is a thieves kitchen." Alianne reminded her. "Of course it's a wreck. They come in at all hours of the day and eat whenever they want; food fights are a common occurrence."

"It will take me forever to clean all this up!" Satira said.

"You think this is bad? Wait until you see the common rooms and the library!" Alianne said. Satira spun around angrily.

"But those are the rooms I have to clean!" she sputtered.

"I know." Alianne said apologetically.

Satira balled her hands into fists. "That fox! He gave me the hard rooms on purpose!"

"Well, maybe not. I haven't ever been in Yoko's room so I don't know. He might be a neat freak." Alianne said, trying to help.

"Yeah! And then he would trash it up just to give me more work!"

"Look on the bright side." Alianne said. "You don't have to finish it all today. Just do as much as you can everyday until they are clean. Then you get your next set of chores."

"He told me he wanted these rooms spotless when he came back!" Satira told her.

Alianne shook his head. "He knows how bad these rooms are. He couldn't possibly expect you to finish this all in one day!"

"With as many servants as Yoko has why hasn't he put anyone else on kitchen duty!" Satira asked.

"Yoko has servants mainly as guards, spies, working in the laundry, or in the gardens." Alianne explained. "I'm one of the garden workers. Yoko is very picky about his flowers, but it's so pretty out there. You should stop by and see."

"Like I'll have time!" Satira shot back. "I better get started." She said wearily.

"Let me show you where all the other rooms are first." Alianne said as she led Satira around by the elbow. The other rooms weren't any better. The common rooms, where everyone went to hang out after thieving, looked like the night after Halloween. Satira couldn't step anywhere without stepping on something. Alianne then brought her to the library.

"This is the library." Alianne said. "And that room," she pointed at one down the hall on the right side, "Is Yoko's. I have to get to work, so I'll leave you too it."

"Thanks for your help Ali." Satira said with an attempt at a smile.

"See you tonight, and keep your chin up. The first day is always the hardest." Alianne said as she walked off. Satira stood there for a moment, deciding which to do first.

'_I'll start with the kitchen.'_ She thought with a sad sigh. '_And when I need a break from that mess, I'll clean his room, and then I'll go and finish the kitches.'_ Having a plan in mind Satira made her way to the kitchen.

"First things first." She said, "The trash is going outside!" She hummed to herself as she moved around, placing the trash in a bag and dumping it outside when it was full. Many of the thieves stopped by to eat while she worked and she gave them a greeting. She moved around them as they ate and then left and she worked all day. Around 5 she stopped to eat something herself and then an hour later decided that she had better go and start on Yoko's room. She made her way back to his room, and peeked it.

"Neat freak my butt! He probably just did it to give me more work!" she muttered as she looked at his room. His room looked like all the others, except there were stolen goods and clothes everywhere. His bed was unmade and he had papers strewn all over the floor. She rolled her eyes and began to organize. She placed the jewels and things in a corner and put the papers in a neat stack. She then made her way over to his bed after cleaning the floor and started to make it when an idea popped into her head. A way to get a little revenge. She laughed as she made his bed a "special" way and then left to go and resume her job in the kitchens.

Yoko came back later that night, wondering how his little cat's first day had gone. He laughed when he thought of how he had messed up his room more than normal to aggravate her. He walked into his room to find it spotless and organized.

"Impressive" he thought as he laid some things on his desk. He yawned and decided to turn in. He had had a long day. He moved over to his bed and threw back the sheets. He got in and laid down, stretching his legs out. RIP! Yoko's eyes widened in surprise as he threw back his covers. He looked at his now ripped bed sheets, his face growing madder by the second.

_'She SHORT SHEETED ME!'_ He thought furiously as he opened his mouth wide and yelled. "SATIRA!"


	8. the next morning

Alianne poked her head into the kitchen later that night. Satira was mopping the floor when Alianne tapped her.

"Hey!" Satira said. "How was the gardens?"

"Same ole, same ole." Alianne responded. "I think he cares more about those roses than the things he steals." She joked as she looked around the kitchen at the work Satira had done. "You did a good job. I have never seen it this clean."

"I have had all day." Satira answered.

"You look tired." Alianne commented.

"Like you wouldn't believe! As soon as I am done mopping, I am going to sleep!"

"I hear ya!" Alianne replied.

"SATIRA!"

Satira smirked as she heard Yoko's furious voice calling for her. She chose to ignore his summons and keep on mopping. Alianne looked at her.

"He sounded really mad."

"Yes, he did." Satira replied casually, a knowing smile on her face.

"What did you do?" Alianne asked half curious and half worried. Satira had no time to answer when Yoko appeared in the doorway of the kitchen looking livid.

"Alianne out!" he demanded. Alianne cast one more look at the calm Satira as she slipped out. Satira looked up from her mopping at looked up at Yoko who was seething.

"Something wrong?" she asked innocently.

"What did you short sheet me for!" he demanded. Satira looked at him, her green eyes showing her satisfaction at his reaction.

"You think I did that?" she asked going back to her mopping.

"I know you did it!" Yoko shot back. The two stood there, Yoko glaring at her while she serenely finished mopping. Once she was done, she placed the mop in a corner and walked to where he was standing in the doorway.

"Goodnight." She said with a wave as Yoko grabbed her wrist. Satira whirled around to look at him surprised.

"Are you done with the common rooms and the library yet?" he asked between clenched teeth. Satira shook her head as Yoko gave an evil smile.

"Good! Then you can have them clean by tomorrow morning." He said. Satira's mouth hung open.

"But…it's eleven at night!" she shouted.

Yoko gave her a smug grin. "I know, and you have till tomorrow morning so I suggest that you get started and stop wasting time." Satira tried to argue but he turned to walk back to his room. "If those rooms aren't clean." He said turning his head to face her. "Then you will be punished." Satira moved her mouth in objection but no sound came out. Yoko walked back to his room grinning. That would teach her to play tricks on him. Satira sighed in defeat as she made her way to the common room. Her heart sank at the sight of the mess. But she had no other choice as she started to pick up the room. Thankfully she managed to clean the room fast and in the library she just shelved the books wherever there was space since there seemed to be no order to them. She walked to her room, exhausted and fell asleep, not even bothering to undress.

The next morning, Alianne let her sleep in. She had heard from the others about Yoko making her stay up all night. She figured that Yoko had been mad about the whole short sheeting thing and that he would have gotten over it after having made her stay up all night, but she found out how wrong she was when Yoko found her.

"Where is Satira!" Yoko demanded.

"Sleeping." Alianne said.

"WHAT!" Yoko said, getting red as Alianne took a step back.

"I didn't wake her up. You kept her up all night!"

"That was her fault that she had to stay up last night." Yoko said "And if she has time to play tricks then she has time to work!"

"Yoko it was just a joke. Your sheets are easily fixed. Give her a break." Alianne said, pleading on her friend's behalf.

"Fine, if you won't wake her then I will!" Yoko said as he made his way to her room. He pounded on the door until a sleepy Satira opened it. He barged in and looked at her.

"You should be up! You still have chores to do!" he said rounding on her.

"I finished those rooms." She said quietly.

"Good! Now you have other chores you need to get done!" he said. "Meet me in my office in five minutes!" Yoko ordered as he slammed the door behind him. Satira winced as she heard the door slam. She hadn't mean to make him as mad as she had by short sheeting him, but he had deserved it! Making her wear the stupid uniform and all. But then he had kept her up all night and expected her to wake up at the normal time! Satira washed her face and got ready, heading towards Yoko's office. Who did he think he was! He had forced her into this life and then yelled at her for rebelling. Well she would have to remedy that. When Yoko learned that she wouldn't roll over like a dog just because she lost one fight; then the pranks would stop. In fact, if he hadn't had such a cow about the first one it probably would never have happened again. But now she was angry. The short sheeting had been a small prank, but this next one wouldn't be.


	9. new faces and new tricks

Yoko stormed into his office in a rage. _'Who does she think she is!'_ He thought to himself angrily. _'If she thinks she can get away with short sheeting me and then sleep in the next day, then she is dead wrong!_' He sat down in his chair in a huff and when he heard a knock on his door he gave a growl as Satira slowly entered. His anger dissipated a little when he saw how tired she looked, and for a moment, he felt guilty.

"Fine, I'm up!" she said in a ragged voice. "Just tell me what to do so I can get on with it."

"Don't you speak to me that way!" Yoko said standing. "You serve me!"

"Because I lost one stupid fight!" Satira shot back. "If I had even known that I was trespassing I would have gone around your territory but I had no choice! They would have…." She stopped what she was saying and bit her lip looking away. She had said too much.

"They would have what!" Yoko asked sharply. His expression changing.

"Nothing!" Satira said flatly, her hand finding her necklace. "Just tell me what you want me to do!" Yoko's eyes narrowed for a moment as he studied her. She was biting her lip and clutching that stupid locket. She was nervous about something, but what? Was she afraid of him?

"You are to get my laundry done, put them away, and put the books in the library in alphabetical order." Yoko said in an even tone. Satira looked up.

"But that library is huge!" she protested. "That could take all day!"

"Then take all day! You are not allowed to eat or rest until those two jobs are done! Understood!" Yoko said staring at her, his fingers laced in front of him. Satira stared at him, defiance reflected in her green eyes.

"Fine." She hissed as she spun around to leave.

"I didn't say you could go!" Yoko called out. Satira stopped and spun around, her hands balling into fists. Her ears were laid back and her tail lashed angrily from side to side.

"May I go?" she asked in a forced calm voice.

Yoko nodded as she pushed her way out. She stalked down the hall angrily walking past a golden wolf demon on the way. The wolf demon looked at her as she went into the library and then went into Yoko's office.

"So that is the cat I keep hearing about." She said upon entering.

"That's her." Yoko said, "What are you doing here? Did you get the floor plans?"

"I got them," she replied coolly, tossing Yoko the roll of papers. "Even though someone got in my way!"

Yoko sighed. "Amira, you were supposed to keep watch, Hiei was supposed to get the plans. He's faster than you, why can't you just do it my way?"

"I don't need that fire demon's help! I got the plans didn't I?" Amira said, crossing her arms.

"I don't need this right now!" Yoko said, massaging his temples.

"The cat giving you problems?" Amira asked uncrossing her arms.

"I think she is hiding something from me." Yoko said thinking about what she had said and how worried she had looked. It bothered him that something scared her that much.

"I don't think she is keeping her anger at you a secret." Amira replied. "She stormed out of here like you clipped her claws."

"Do you know what she did? She short sheeted me!"

Amira choked back a laugh as Yoko glared.

"Well, can you blame her?" Amira asked sitting down in a chair. "You did force her to become your servant."

"I did not. She had a fair chance to beat me!" Yoko said aggravated.

"Yeah, like that is an easy thing to do!" Amira pointed out. "Just, go easy on her for a while and let her get used to being here."

"And let her think she can get away with making me look like an idiot!" Yoko asked angrily.

"Now you know how I feel when you send Hiei with me!" Amira retorted.

"Alright, I get the point." Yoko said standing and collecting the roll of papers. Amira stood up as well and walked with him down the hall.

"I put the cat in you and Ali's room so I'll have an extra bed brought in there for you. Try not to rile her up against me alright?" Yoko asked her with a smile.

"I'll see what I can do. But you have to start letting me do the spy missions alone instead of the team work with Hiei!" Amira replied.

"We can talk about it later." Yoko answered back as they walked outside.


	10. In trouble again

Satira slammed the library door and glared daggers at the wall. That fox! He was so?intolerable! Making her organize this library and then do his laundry! Fine! If he thought that she would be an obedient little cat because he refused her food and rest until she got her chores done, then she would teach him a thing or two?oh yes, she would do her chores alright. She smiled to herself. She knew exactly what she would do. But first things first, she walked over to the first book shelf and started taking off the books. She would have to start from scratch here. The books had no order whatsoever. She placed all the books with authors starting with A in one pile, B in another and so on down the line. By the time she had taken all the books off the shelf, they room had towers of books everywhere. She went back to the A pile and started alphabetizing and then placing on the shelf. She had always loved to read. At home, she had spent hours in the library, reading every book until she had to go to sleep. Home. Her ears drooped a little as she sat down, reminiscing. How she missed home. The raiders had taken a lot of her people captive. Many of then more than likely shared the same fate she did, servitude. The others had either been killed or sold off. She wiped away a tear; it didn?t do to dwell in the past. What was done was done, and she tired to think of the positive side. She had hit rock bottom working for that egotistical Yoko, so the only way left to go was up. The raiders hadn?t seemed to be able to locate her yet, and for that much she owed Yoko her gratitude. She went back to her job, finishing the library. It was close to midday and the library hadn?t been as big as she had originally thought. Then she went back to Yoko?s room to collect his laundry. She made his bed and smiled at the repaired sheets he had. And then started picking up his white toga looking outfit that he always wore. In fact, most of his wardrobe looked the same. She smiled, well that would just make this easier. She went to the laundry room and threw half of Yoko?s clothes in one tub and the other half in another. She washed one half of the clothes regularly, getting them clean and then drying them. She hung them up to finish drying and turned to the other half with an evil smile.

Later that day, Satira walked back to her room after finishing Yoko's laundry and then eating. She entered her room and fell down on her bed exhausted.

"So, you're Satira." A new voice said. Satira sat up and noticed the wolf demon she had passed by earlier this morning. A new bed had been added to the room and the wolf demon was sitting on it, looking at her. Satira nodded.

"Yes, that's me. Who are you?"

"I am Amira." The wolf demon said. "You know, you've made quite a stir here." She said with a smile. Satira looked down.

"I didn't choose to come here." She answered in defense.

"Not surprising. Amira answered. "No one wants to be a servant, but not everyone is lucky enough to escape it."

"Are you a servant?" Satira asked.

Amira shook her head, "No, I joined here of my own free will. I am one of Yoko's spies." Amira noticed Satira's eyes flare up in anger at the mention of Yoko's name.

"You're not very fond of Yoko are you?" Amira asked. Satira tossed her head.

"Should I be! He forced me into a fight, beat me, and now I am his servant and have to do everything he says or else I am denied food or rest!"

"He isn't that bad." Amira said. "But I can sympathize. Being forced to work with someone you don't like is never appealing. I know."

"You do?" Satira asked curious. Amira nodded.

"Yoko insists on teaming me up with this fire demon. He hates me, I hate him. But Yoko thinks we work well together."

"That is so typical of him!" Satira said standing. "He doesn't care about anyone else but himself!"

Amira looked at her. "Actually, that isn't true. He cares about his friends, and believe it or not, he is protective of his servants and treats them well. He takes great care that none of the thieves harass the female servants."

"Great," Satira said sarcastically. "So it's just me then!"

"Things will get better." Amira said soothingly. "And actually, I think he likes you." Satira looked at her like she was crazy.

"now THAT I can't believe." She said. "Where would you get that idea?"

Amira smiled. "You stand up to him and not very many people are willing to do that. I think he finds your spirit a nice change. And also..."Amira said looking at Satira out of the corner of her eye. "I think he thinks you?re pretty." Satira sat down.

"You're making that up!" she accused. Amira shrugged.

"Maybe..."

Yoko walked back into his room later that day, pleased to find that it was once again clean. "_Hm. Maybe she did learn her lesson after all."_ He thought as he went to his closet. He opened up the doors and his eyes went wide and then narrowed in anger.

"SATIRA!"


	11. Yoko's pink clothes

Amira and Satira both looked up as the walls shook with Yoko's anger.

"What did you do this time?!" Amira demanded. Satira looked at the floor as she played with her tail.

"I sorta….dyed half of his clothes pink." She said, smoothing out her tail. Amira put a hand to her face to hide the smile as Satira looked at her with another small smile. Both smiles faded when Yoko burst into the room, holding one of the pink articles of clothing.

"Satira!" he said, his face red. Amira stood up.

"I'll go." She said as she took another look at the pink clothing.

"I think that is your color Yoko!" she said with a giggle as Yoko glared at her and she made her way out, laughing down the hall. Satira smiled at Amira's reaction but her face fell when Yoko slammed the door shut. Satira bit her lip nervously as Yoko advanced on her. Satira moved back until she was pinned against the wall and Yoko was towering angrily over her.

"You dyed my clothes PINK!" He shouted at her.

"They aren't ALL pink." Satira said calmly. "Only half."

"That just proves you did it on purpose!" Yoko yelled.

"Maybe it wasn't!" Satira shot back. "I mean I was up all last night remember! I was so tired and I didn't really notice…"

"You were up all last night because you decided that you were going to play pranks instead of doing your job!" Yoko interrupted angrily.

"NO, I was up because someone can't take a joke!" Satira replied. Yoko's eyes grew even harder as Satira looked at the floor. He grabbed her chin and tilted it up to look at him and he saw she was biting her lip again. Her eyes showed that she was nervous about what he would do to her as punishment this time.

"You are going to spend the rest of the day making sure that my clothes are back to their normal color!" Yoko said evenly, his face close to hers. Satira looked at him angrily.

"I can't do that! They are dyed now! They are going to be pink no matter how many times I wash them!" She argued.

"You better hope that they do turn white or you won't like what happens." Yoko said his voice low.

"And if I can't get them white?" Satira asked, her hands balling into fists.

"Then you will find a way to replace those and…" His mind searched for something that would be a suitable punishment. He couldn't keep denying her food or rest. Just by looking at her he could see she was about ready to drop. But then his eyes landed on her locket. That's what he would do. He would keep her locket until she started acting right.

"And I'll take your locket." He finished. Satira's eyes immediately widened with fear as she gripped it tightly in her hands and pressed herself further against the wall. Yoko was surprised at the reaction and almost took it back, he would never do that to her. Not now that he knew how scared she was the he would take it.

"You can't!" she said, almost pleadingly.

"I will do what I have to too keep my servants in line." Yoko said angrily. "I won't tolerate disrespect!"

"You can't take it from me!" She said defiantly; trying to keep from crying. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Then don't give me a reason too." Yoko said as he turned to leave. "Bring the clothes to my room when you are done. And they better be the right color!" he added as he left the room. Satira stood there trembling for a moment as she flung herself on the bed and buried her face in the pillow to cry.

Yoko leaned against the side of the wall, listening to her sobs and wondering why his heart was breaking.


	12. scheduling a meeting

Yoko finally made his way to one of the meeting rooms. _'Why do I care so much?'_ He asked himself. _'She is just someone that was trespassing. Just a nobody.'_ Even as he thought it he knew that wasn't the case. She was somebody. She stood up to him. She played little jokes like short sheeting him and dying his clothes pink whenever he made her work more than everyone else. He had to admit to himself that he had come down a little hard on her. An image of her face sprang to his mind. It was what she had looked like when he said he would take her necklace. All defiance had left her face. Her eyes were wide in fear; her mouth open in shock. How he hated that look….but he hated her crying more. He narrowed his eyes and balled his hands as he asked himself again. _'Why do I care!'_

He walked into the meeting room to see a short demon sitting on his desk. He was dressed in black to match his black hair. A white bandana went across his forehead and matched the white starburst in his hair.

"Hiei." Yoko said in greeting as he went to sit down in his chair.

"About time you got here. I have been here since this morning." Hiei replied, watching him as he sat down.

"Honestly. I expected you to get here earlier. Amira even beat you." Yoko said with a smile. Hiei's face reddened.

"I refuse to go on any more of your little spy missions with that baka onna!" Hiei replied.

"She's not that bad. You two would make a great team if you just worked together!" Yoko answered.

"You're assuming I want to work with her. She can get caught for all I care!" Hiei said crossing his arms.

"Anyway, what did you come here to tell me?" Yoko asked. He knew Hiei didn't come to whine about Amira. He hated her as much as she hated him and the two would rather yell at each other then anyone else. Yoko smirked, they were like a married couple.

"The raiders are requesting an audience with you." Hiei informed him. Yoko sat up in his chair, his interest peaked.

"You don't say…that's interesting. What do they want?"

"They want to form a treaty that says they can pass through your land without fear of being attacked, and we can pass through theirs." Hiei answered.

Yoko leaned back. "They are assuming that I even want to go through their land. There is nothing of any value there to us."

Hiei leaned forward. "Actually there is." He tossed the fox a map. "This temple is on the other side of Raider territory. I've been to it. It's defiantly worth looting, the problem is that if we take anything from their that is worth stealing, we would be caught because they have temple guards running along half of Raider territory, which unless we make this pact we would have to go through."

Yoko looked at the map. "Your right. Well then, it looks like we have a deal." He said rolling up the map.

"Your going to let them permanently traipse through your territory because off one temple on the other side of their territory?" Hiei questioned. "What about your precious plants?"

Yoko smirked. "We can terminate the treaty after we have what we want. But until then, let them think we are helping them."

Hiei nodded. "I'll tell them that you will meet with them tonight." Yoko nodded as they both stood.

"I wonder what they are really after." Yoko said as they walked to the door. Hiei looked at him, waiting for him to go on.

"They have never wanted to go through my territory before. They must know of something I have that they want. But what?"

Hiei shrugged. "Like it matters. You can try to figure it out tonight." Yoko nodded as they left. Hiei to deliver the message, Yoko to plan the meeting.

Satira scrubbed at the pink in Yoko's clothes as they threw in down in the water in disgust. "I swear it's getting pinker by the minute!"

"Want some help?" Satira turned around as Alianne and Amira looked back at her from the doorway.

"It's a lost cause! This pink is permanent." She said with a sigh as the two other demons entered and sat next to her.

"When I play a prank on someone, I go all the way!" Satira said as she threw the scrub brush into the now pink water.

"Have you tried bleaching?" Amira suggested.

"No, I haven't." Satira said, brightening at the suggestion. Alianne smiled as she went and got the bleach. The three girls then went at turning Yoko's clothes back to white.

"Thanks for your help." Satira said looking at her roommates. "This would have taken all day."

"We were bored." Amira answered with a smile. The three girls started talking when Yoko came into the room. He cleared his throat to get their attention as they looked at him. Satira not meeting his gaze.

"I am having a meeting tonight and I need someone to serve food and drinks to them." Yoko said.

"I'll do it." Alianne volunteered. Yoko shook his head. "Satira, your serving." Satira almost dropped the clothes.

"WHAT! I am not a waitress!"

"You are now." Yoko answered, dismissing her protest. "Be at the kitchen by eight. And I don't want anymore jokes played tonight." He said as he turned to leave. Satira lowered her head with a grumble to get back to work when Yoko's voice called her.

"If you get the urge to play anymore jokes on me for making you work tonight, please wait and do them tomorrow. Ok?" He gave her a half smile to show he hadn't meant any offense. Satira didn't return the smile, but when he left the room a small smile spread across her face, and her day had considerably brightened. And Amira and Alianne noticed she had started humming to herself as she finished bleaching Yoko's clothes.


	13. fighting the feelings

Soon, Yoko's clothes were back to white. Although if looked at under a certain light, stains of pinks could still be seen. But thankfully, they were clean enough to pass Yoko's inspection. Satira hung up his clothes under his watchful eye.

"Thank you." He said as she finished. Satira looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Ever since he had made the threat to take her necklace, she had been wary around him. But putting all his ego and threats aside, he wasn't bad to be around. Realizing what she was thinking she gave her hand a small pinch. That was the last thing she needed, to fall for some guy. And Yoko none the less! She wasn't sure how long this nice attitude of his would last, but she liked it.

"You're free to do whatever you would like until our guests get here. But I want you to be in the kitchens by eight and serve promptly at 8: 30. Understood?" Yoko asked.

Satira gave a nod. "I understand." She answered and left the room.

Yoko raised an eyebrow as she left, wondering why she was being so agreeable. He had to admit, it was nice being around her without having to punish her. He made his way to the meeting room and met up with Kuroune and Hiei.

"They here yet?" He asked them.

"They should be here soon." Hiei replied. "There are four coming. Two leaders and two guards."

Yoko nodded at the information. "I just hope this is over fast. I hate talking with these raiders."

"I've told the guards to be on alert for anything missing or suspicious." Kuroune said. "Raiders aren't to be trusted."

"Sounds like we have everything in order."

Satira went back to her room and rested until it was time for her to serve. She walked in to find Alianne and Amira talking.

"Hey." She said in greeting as she lay down on her bed. The two other girls gave a reply when a knock on the door sounded.

"Come in." Alianne said as Hiei stepped in.

"Amira." He said as she shot him a glare.

"What do you want!" she demanded.

"Yoko wants you to be at the meeting tonight." Hiei said.

"Fine." Amira said, turning her back to him. Hiei glared at her back.

"You coming?!" he demanded.

"Yes!" Amira answered in an annoyed voice.

"Then let's go!" Hiei said.

"You didn't say anything about going now." Amira replied, ignoring him.

"I am now! Come on!" Hiei said with a growl. Amira stood up and walked out into the hall.

"You're not wearing that are you!" Hiei accusing looking at her. Amira's eyes narrowed. "Like you can talk! You wear the same thing every day!"

Alianne and Satira exchanged looks at the two went down the hall bickering.

"If I didn't know any better." Satira said sitting down. "I would think that they liked each other."

"It's so obvious!" Alianne said. "They fight all the time."

"I know!" Satira replied with a laugh. Alianne laughed as she looked at Satira slyly.

"It reminds me of you and Yoko." She said. Satira stopped laughing and glared.

"Don't even go there!" Satira warned. Alianne laughed as Satira stood up.

"I need to get the kitchens, see you later." She said as she went down the hall.


	14. The Raiders find Satira

Satira made her way to the kitchen and tied an apron around her waist. This way, if anything got spilled, it wouldn't ruin her clothes. She pulled out a silver tray and placed it on the counter. She went to the door to the meeting room and poked her head in.

"Yoko?" she asked. Yoko looked up from where he was talking with Kuroune, Amira, and Hiei. He gave a smile of approval. She had arrived on time.

"How many drinks do I need to prepare?"

"Eight." Yoko answered. Satira nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen. Yoko watched the door a moment longer before returning to his conversation. Not long after, a messenger appeared with a bow.

"Master Yoko. The Raiders are here."

"Send them in." Yoko instructed as he sat down next to Kuroune. The raiders entered the room looking serious. They all wore cloaks of light brown, the hoods down. Their leader had a golden headband around his forehead. The guards accompanying them brought in knives, but handed them to Yoko's guards in a show of peace. They gave a stiff nod in Yoko's direction and seated themselves across the table.

"I am Sarkan, leader of the raiders. We thank you for meeting with us, Yoko." Yoko nodded as Sarkan continued.

"This is my second in command, Prakash." He said indicating his friend who gave a solemn nod. "We are here to negotiate a treaty that will benefit both of us."

"What do you propose?" Kuroune asked.

"That our people are allowed to move into your territory without fear of being attacked, and you are allowed on ours." Sarkan said. He sat backing his chair and laced his fingers together. Yoko pretended to look deep in thought, even though he knew what his answer would be. He looked up as the door opened and Satira entered, carrying a tray. He nodded at her as she came forward.

"Before we make any agreements, may I offer you a drink?" he asked, making a hand gesture in Satira's direction. Sarkan smiled.

"Yes, thank you."

Satira almost stopped in her tracks, she knew that voice. Prakash turned in his seat to look who the waitress was as his eyes locked with hers. Satira immediately lowered her face as his eyes widened in recognition and immediately traveled to the necklace at her throat. Yoko was looking at her strangely as she slowly moved forward. She risked a glance at the raiders and Sarkan's eyes narrowed in anger. Satira's hands trembled and she dropped the tray. Yoko immediately stood up as Satira started picking up the glasses.

"I am sorry." She apologized, not looking at anyone. "I shall bring out a replacement." She said as she picked up the spilled glasses and hurried back into the kitchen. Yoko's eyes watched her intently as he stood up.

"If you will excuse me for a moment, I need to have a talk with my servants." He then walked into the kitchen to find Satira pacing. She stopped as soon as he entered and looked at him. She was biting her lip and her hand, which had been holding her necklace tightly, dropped to her side.

"What was that?" Yoko demanded of her. She looked at him with carefully masked eyes. For once, she wasn't going to show she was afraid.

"Please….can you find someone else to serve tonight!" Satira asked him suddenly. Yoko looked at her curiously.

"What for?"

Satira searched for a reason. "The Raiders, they make me nervous." She said. "Please, let someone else do this!" Yoko suspected she wasn't telling him everything.

"I won't let anything happen to those in my service. You have nothing to fear." He said as he turned to go back to the meeting. Satira grabbed his arm.  
"No! I won't go back out there!" She told him.

"Why not!" Yoko asked.

"I…I just...can't." she said weakly.

"That is not a good enough reason; now tell me the real reason." Yoko said. Satira racked her brain for an answer. "I know your hiding something!" Yoko said. "Now what is it!"

"I don't want to do it ok!" Satira shot at him. "So find someone else!"

"You will do what is expected of you or you will be punished!" Yoko said getting angry that she wouldn't tell him what was going on.

"Then punish me!" Satira replied hotly as Yoko advanced on her. Her necklace, the raiders had looked at it. There must be something about that necklace. Yoko took the necklace off her neck as Satira gave a cry or surprise.

"Finish your job!" he said sternly, the locket in his hands. Satira gave him eyes full of pleading and Yoko felt his heart break.

"Don't make me go out there! She tried again.

"Finish your job and you can have it back." Yoko said, his voice softening.

Satira glared at him. She couldn't go back out there and let them see her again, but if she didn't. She looked at her necklace in his hands and looked up at him. She wished she could say something to get her necklace back, but she knew she couldn't. She lowered her eyes.

"Alright." She said angrily, tossing her head. Yoko tilted her chin to look at him.

"I promise, nothing will happen to you. I protect those who work for me." He said, trying to reduce her apparent fear of them. No matter how much she tried to hide it, he could tell. "I will protect you." Satira looked up into his golden eyes and felt her heart melt. He gave her a tender smile and placed the necklace in his pocket and went back outside. She breathed a sigh and ran out into the hall; grabbing a passing demon's arm.

"Could you go and get Alianne and tell her to come here? Yoko's orders." The demon nodded and ran to get her as Satira walked back in the kitchen.

"Sorry Yoko." She muttered as she bit her lip and waited for her friend to come.


	15. Hiei's bet

Yoko walked back into the meeting room and sat down, his mind a flurry of thought. Something about these Raiders had spooked her, and he wasn't sure he was willing to make a treaty with them now. Beneficial or not.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Yoko said feigning niceness. The Raiders nodded as Hiei and Amira exchanged looks.

Hiei scribbled something on a piece of paper and slid it over to Amira. She cast him a glare and read it.

"Ten bucks says Satira runs." Hiei had written. Amira rolled her eyes and wrote back.

"You have no faith in people. You're on!" Hiei read the message and smirked. He then wrote again and slid it toward Amira again.

"And if she gets Alianne as her replacement, you have to do what I say for a week!"

Amira read it and jotted down an answer. "She'll come out! In case you didn't notice, Yoko has her necklace. She's coming. It's a deal!"

Hiei read the answer and leaned back. It was going to be a good week.

Back in the kitchen, Satira looked up as Alianne ran into the room. "I got here as soon as I could, what is going on?"

"Ali, I need you to cover for me!" Satira said earnestly.

"Why?" she asked surprised.

"I can't explain right now, just that Raiders make me nervous. Please take over for me."

Ali looked at her for a moment. "I wish I could, but I have to finish in the gardens. If Yoko's plants aren't watered they will die and he will kill me!"

"I'll do it." Satira volunteered "That is after whatever punishment he gives me. But I will get it done. I really need you to do this for me Ali. I'll explain why tonight. Please?" Alianne looked at her again and sighed.

"You owe me big time." She said picking up the tray. Satira smiled. "Thank you!" she said as she left and headed to her room to think about what she was going to do now.

Yoko and the Raiders were conversing as Alianne made her entrance. She pushed the door open with her back and when she turned around, she met Yoko's furious eyes. She looked down and began serving. She passed by Yoko who grabbed her wrist.

"Where is she?" he asked so that the Raiders couldn't hear.

"She asked me to take over. She said the Raiders made her nervous….I…I didn't realize you told her not to…" Amira said when Yoko silenced her with a wave.

"I'll deal with her later." Yoko said in an aggravated voice.

"Told you she would bail." Hiei whispered to Amira. Amira glanced at his smug look as she passed him ten bucks.

"And, you get to be my personal servant for a week." Hiei said triumphantly, waving the paper she had signed in her face.

"How did you know!" She asked him, trying to resist the urge to strangle him.

Hiei looked at her as his jagan glowed under the white bandana he wore. Amira gasped in surprise.

"YOU CHEATED!" she accused. Everyone looked at her as she turned red and leaned back in her seat. Hiei smirked at her embarrassment.

"So, Yoko, do we have a deal?" Sarkan asked. Yoko looked over the paper and was about to sign, but Satira's expression regarding the Raiders kept passing through his head. She was risking punishment and her necklace so they wouldn't see her. Maybe he shouldn't sign it, at least, not yet. Yoko sighed and put down the pen.

"I need some time to think about this. If you two would meet me again tomorrow, then I will have a decision for you." Sarkan and Prakash exchanged glanced but nodded.

"We thank you for your consideration." Sarkan said as they left. Hiei, Amira, and Kuroune looked at Yoko.

"Why the hesitation? I thought you were going to make a deal." Kuroune said.

"I thought so too. But, did you guys see the way Satira reacted to them?" Yoko asked.

Hiei shrugged. "Yeah, so? The Raiders aren't the most popular people. Your not going to lose a good chance like this because some cat is nervous around them are you?"

"You are so uncaring Hiei!" Amira said condescendingly crossing her arms.

"You can't talk back right now can you?" Hiei challenge waving the paper.

"What is going on with you two!" Kuroune asked curiously. The two looked at him, then each other and looked away.  
"Nothing." They replied at the same time. Kuroune raised an eyebrow.

"Where is she now?" Yoko asked Alianne.

"I think she went to our room." She said, picking up the glasses.

Yoko turned and strode out of the room, trying to keep his temper. She was in big trouble this time.


	16. Yoko's anger and Satira's decision

Satira sat on her bed, thinking what to do now. There was no choice. She would have to run. They had seen her face; they would be coming for her. She touched her throat where her necklace normally was. Yoko had her necklace, getting it back wouldn't be easy. And by sound of the footsteps coming her way, he wasn't going to give it back if she asked. She stood and turned to face him, for once, she wasn't going to let him see her scared. Yoko slammed the door open and stared at her.

"You disobeyed me." Yoko said in a low voice. Satira met his gaze and turned her back to him, crossing her arms.

"You had to see it coming. I told you. I don't like being around them." She said calmly.

"Why not? What is it about them that you don't like?" Yoko asked, pressing for an answer. Satira shot him a look from over her shoulder.  
"That is none of your business!" she replied.

Yoko turned her around to face him. "I told you that I wouldn't let them get to you!" he said, angry that she didn't trust him to protect her.

"You can't always be around Yoko." She pointed out. "But that is assuming I trust you to protect me, or even want you to."

Yoko's eyes narrowed. "You will be punished." He said changing the subject.

"Just get it over with." Satira said.

"I want this entire place clean. And I mean I want it dusted, mopped, scrubbed, and anything else you can do. I don't want to find one messy room, Got it!" Satira met his stare and nodded.

"Yeah, I got it." She answered as she looked away. Yoko looked at her a moment longer, and his eyes softened. He really didn't like being so hard on her.

"Look, Satira…" he began when she cut him off.

"You gave me your orders now leave me alone!" She replied scathingly.

Yoko's hands clenched. "You think I like being this hard on you! You don't give me any other choice!"

"You think I wanted to be here! I didn't get a choice either!" She shot back.

"You were trespassing!" Yoko argued.

"I had to! They would have…" she stopped short. She wouldn't tell him.

"You keep saying that…who is they?" Yoko asked getting exasperated and stepping closer. "What are you hiding?"

"That is none of your concern!" Satira yelled at him, fighting the tears that threatened to spill. "You have ruined my life! You keep me here against my will, make me do your bidding, and then take my necklace that is all I have of my parents. I think you have done enough. Just leave me alone to complete these stupid little jobs that you gave me." Yoko turned on his heels and strode out of the room, slamming the door.

Satira stared at the floor before grabbing something to cover her clothes. Completing Ali's job in the gardens might get messy, and since she was now responsible for cleaning up the entire place, she didn't want to bring any mud or dirt inside with her. She sighed and walked to the gardens. She would have to run, as soon as possible. Tonight, she needed to put some space between her and the Raiders. As soon as everyone went to bed, she would sneak into Yoko's room, get her necklace and bid the place farewell. Her face hardened. _'Good riddance too!'_ she thought. Yet, there was a nagging in the back of her mind that told her should would miss Yoko's offer of protection, and fighting with him, and…seeing his face all red when she dyed his clothes pink. She smiled at the memory and then shook her head. It didn't do to dwell on that at the moment. She would be running tonight, and she didn't need thoughts of him to try in preventing her from leaving. _'I have to go!'_ she told herself as she picked up the watering can. _'I have no choice.'_ And yet she knew that once she was gone, she would miss him.

Sarkan and Prakash made their way through Yoko's territory back to their home.

"That was her! That cat. She still has the necklace." Prakash whispered to Sarkan excitedly.

"I'm not blind. I saw it!" Sarkan snapped. "But she saw us too. We need Yoko to agree to this treaty so we can get her." He narrowed his eyes.

"I knew she was hiding there!"

"You think it's possible that Yoko knows of the necklace's abilities?" Prakash asked. Sarkan shook his head.

"Something of that great importance he would have taken from her. He knows nothing, and we must make sure he keeps knowing nothing." Prakash nodded in agreement.

"Tomorrow, Yoko will make his decision, and then, once he agrees, we will take her." Sarkan said an evil grin spreading across his face.


	17. planning what to do next

Satira made her way out to the gardens and began watering the plants. Looking at the rows of flowers and other plants she sighed. She had better hurry and get this done. She would make a pretense of doing what Yoko had instructed, but by morning, she would be long gone. She was a cat after all, she wouldn't wake anyone. And now that she knew where the guards were located, avoiding them would be all too easy. She went to refill the watering can and resumed her job. Hopefully, the raiders would come back here to look for her. She had a feeling that was why there were tying to make a deal with Yoko in the first place. They had chased her here and were going to look for her here. And they had found her. But by the time they got Yoko's permission, she would be away, safe. She sighed. How she hated to run….she was ready to just go back home, and live her life. But, because of the raiders she didn't have a home anymore either. She smiled to herself. _'And I thought Yoko was a pain.'_

Yoko walked back into the meeting room to find everyone discussing him and Satira.

"What!" he demanded as they all stared at him.

"You punished her didn't you?" Amira asked. Yoko ignored her question.

"YOKO! Answer me!" she demanded to know.

"Fine I did, so what? She disobeyed my orders!" Yoko said in defense.

"She was scared." Alianne pointed out in a soft voice. "You can't blame her for trying to get out of something like that."

"I wouldn't have let anything happen to her!" Yoko protested.

"We know that, but she doesn't." Hiei responded. Yoko sent a glare in his direction as he looked back at Alianne.

"Weren't you on garden duty tonight?" he asked. Alianne nodded.  
"But Satira said she would finish it for me. I only had the back section left." Alianne answered hastily. Yoko immediately stood up.

"What!" Alianne stepped back a little, surprised.

"The back half, Satira is finishing for me." She repeated.

"Are you insane! You know what kind of plants are back there! She has no idea! She could hurt or worse!" Yoko yelled as she stormed out of the room to get her.

"I think he likes her." Kuroune said with a smirk.

"Duh." Hiei and Amira replied at the same time. They then turned and shot each other a glare. Kuroune shrugged.  
"I'm going to bed. This day has been way too hectic for me."

"Me too." Amira said with a yawn.

"Think again." Hiei said from behind her. Amira turned to face him as he waved their note in front of her face again. "Remember our little wager?"

"Fine, what do you want me to do? Oh mighty Hiei." She added sarcastically. Hiei smirked.

"Glad you asked…follow me." He said as he set off down the hall, Amira following him with a scowl on her face.

Yoko ran out to the gardens and arrived there out of breath. He looked around, scanning for Satira.

He slowly began to walk down the rows of plants, checking to make sure she wasn't around. He reached the very back corner as his heart stopped. There she was, caught unconscious by the death tree. The tree had its vines wrapped around her body, the watering can she had been carrying was spilled off to the side. The death tree was about to eat her.

"No!" Yoko called out in command as he raced toward her. The tree took no knowledge of Yoko as it brought Satira closer to its jaws. Yoko took out his whip and lashed it at the tree. Yoko's whip cut the vine holding Satira as she was dropped unconscious to the ground. The tree, mad at losing its dinner started to attack Yoko as he fought against it. After a few minutes, Yoko had cowed the tree back into submission as the tree closed it mouth and returned to looking like a normal plant. Yoko sighed in relief and turned to Satira. He bent down next to her and checked her pulse. It was a little fast, but nothing dangerous, but the cut across her shoulder would be a problem. The death tree had apparently bitten her shoulder to knock her out and then had tried to eat all of her. Yoko gently slid his hands under her and picked her up bridal style. He then silently turned around and brought her back inside.


	18. complications

Yoko walked silently through the empty hallway, carrying Satira. She gave a moan of pain and moved her head closer to Yoko's chest. His heart beat faster at the contact, but he kept walking as she started to shiver.

'_It's the plant's toxin.'_ He thought. _'It makes it victim's cold so they will lie down and curl up to sleep, giving it a chance to kill them. I have to keep her warm.'_

Yoko pulled his arms tighter around her as she snuggled unconsciously into him, seeking warmth. Yoko looked down at her as his eyes softened. He then entered his room and deposited her on his bed, tucking the blankets in around her. She was still shivering, but not as much as he put another blanket over her. He stood over her a moment and brushed the hair out of her face, before leaving to go and get the antidote for the tree's toxin.

Amira followed Hiei down the hall, her arms crossed. _'He better not make me do anything stupid!'_ She thought to herself as Hiei stopped in front of a door.

He looked at her as she glared at him.

"What!" she snapped.

"Ladies first." Hiei said opening the door. Amira rolled her eyes and stepped into the room as Hiei closed the door behind them.

"Alright, just tell me what I have to do." She said angrily. Hiei smirked, "First off, you will be cleaning my room." He said indicating the messy room that they were standing in. Amira gave a sigh of aggravation and bent to start picking things off the floor when Hiei interrupted her.

"And…." He said as she stood back up to look at him. "You will be wearing this." He said shoving a neon pink maid uniform in her hands. Amira gaped at the hideous outfit and then at Hiei.

"You have got to be kidding!" She told him as she threw it back at him. Hiei deftly caught it and tossed it right back. "No, I'm not. Now put it on and get started."

"I am not wearing this!" She argued.

"Oh yes you are!" Hiei argued back. "You lost the bet, you have to do it."

"YOU CHEATED!" Amira shot back. "So that means the debt doesn't count!"

"You knew I had a Jagan and if we have to take this up with Yoko you will have to do it." Hiei replied smugly. Amira opened her mouth to argue back but closed it. He was right. She had known of his Jagan and if the bet was brought to Yoko's attention then she would be made to see it out. She snatched the pink dress back and glared at him.

"Anything else you want to add!" she asked bitterly. Hiei went and sat on the window sill, enjoying the look on her face.

"No this is all, for now." He said as Amira marched out of the room to change into the pink outfit.

Satira's vision was fuzzy as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling and blinked a couple times until her vision cleared. Her shoulder felt sore, but other than that she was fine. But…where was she. She sat up and looked around the dark room.

"What happened?" she asked herself.

"The Death Tree got you." Yoko's voice said from the corner. Startled, Satira's eyes sought him out in the darkness as he stood up from his chair and walked over to her.

"What?" she asked.

"The death tree, you were watering it, and it thought you were dinner. Alianne should never have let you done her job. She is specially trained to handle those plants." Yoko said, angry at Alianne's thoughtlessness.

"I wouldn't have had to if you just let me skip out on the raiders." Satira said angrily.

"You shouldn't have felt like you needed too. I told you nothing would happen to you." Yoko answered.

Satira threw back the covers and got out of the bed. She wobbled for a moment and Yoko made a slight movement to help her that Satira missed.

"I never asked for your protection." Satira said, leaning against the side of the bed, arms crossed.

"But I am giving it anyway." Yoko replied. Satira looked at him and dropped her gaze. "You really should rest some more." Yoko said softly.

"Like you care what happens to me!" Satira answered back hotly.

"You think I don't?" Yoko asked almost angry that she would think that.

"I know you don't!" She responded. Yoko moved in front of her, looking mad. "I'll show you not caring!" he said as he pulled her too him and kissed her. Satira froze for a moment in shock and then melted in the kiss, kissing him back. A loud crash in the hall caused them to break apart, both breathing heavily. Loud laughter greeted their ears as Satira avoided looking at Yoko.

"I…better go and clean that up." She said softly, looking at the floor. She made a movement to leave when Yoko reached out and put his hand on her arm. She looked up at him in surprise as he moved next to her.

"Let someone else get it." He said in an equally soft tone. Satira fought to keep from biting her lip.

"I thought that that was what I was here for." She said. "To clean up around here."

"You were here to do what I asked you to do. And I am asking you to stay here." Yoko said. Satira looked up at him as he leaned forward and kissed her again, gentler but with the same intesity as before. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She wanted this. She forgot all about the Raiders, her necklace, her promise. Everything, all she could think of was Yoko and how much she had come to love him. Yoko felt like he was in heaven. Somewhere between the time he first saw her and now, he had fallen in love with this cat and now that he knew it he wasn't letting her go. A knock on the door sounded as they both broke apart instantly. Satira biting her lip and Yoko looking up, almost angrily at the door.

"Come in." he said as Kuroune looked in.

"I need to talk to you for a sec." he said. Yoko nodded as Satira silently tried to leave the room. She made it to the door when Yoko spoke to her.

"Satira." He called. She blushed and turned around.

"Yes?"

"Finish cleaning the kitchens and the main rooms and come back here when you are done." He said. She nodded and slipped out the door. She closed the door softly and leaned the back of her head against the wall. _'Now what am I going to do!'_


	19. growing attractions

Hiei watched Amira clean up his room, a triumphant glint in his eye. He had the wolf demon right where he wanted her. The wolf had been his major competition and had irritated him for a long time, and now, he would finally be able to pay her back. He watched her from his position on the window sill as she turned around and looked at him. He quickly averted his gaze as she glared at him and continued what she was doing. Amira rolled her eyes. _'That is the third time I caught him staring at me!'_ she thought to herself. She looked at him again from the corner of her eye and saw that he was, once again staring at her. She straightened up and gave him an icy stare.

"What!" she demanded. Hiei looked startled that she had said anything but recovered.

"Nothing." He replied as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You're staring at me!" she accused. Hiei almost fell off the sill. She had noticed!

"What!" Hiei asked incredulously. "Please, if I was going to stare at a girl it would be one that was at least someone pretty." He said closing his eyes. Amira's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What are you saying!" she asked outraged.

Hiei smirked. "Isn't it obvious? You're not pretty." Hiei was lying through his teeth and he knew it. He actually found her quite attractive, but he wasn't going to let her know that! Amira's mouth hung open in shock.

"Like you can talk!" she shot back. Hiei's eyes snapped open. "Besides, I know you think I'm hot!" she said as she turned her back to him.

"Don't flatter yourself!" Hiei replied coolly. Amira shot him a death look and returned to picking up.

_'That little twerp!'_ she thought. _'How dare he say that about me…and…argh! Why does he have to look so darn hot!'_ Hiei's Jagan glowed as he read her thoughts.

"So you think I am hot huh?" he asked. Amira stopped what she was doing, her cheeks turning red. She spun around to find him right behind her.

"Stop reading my thoughts!" she yelled.

"But they are about me and…" he paused to watch her turn even redder. "How hot you think I am." Amira raised her hand and gave him a slap across the face.

"Take that you egotistical little demon!" she shouted. Hiei's red eyes glowed with shock and anger. He pinned her against the wall in one swift motion, his face inches from hers.

"Take that back!" he said, emphasizing each work. Amira's eyes were shocked for a moment and blushed at the closeness of their faces.

"Take it back!" he repeated at her hesitation.

"Or you'll what?" Amira challenged. She knew full well as he did that he couldn't hurt her. Yoko would never allow it. Hiei moved back and went to sit on his window sill, looking angry. Amira straightened out her outfit and began to pick up again when Hiei stopped her.

"When you're done…I have another job for you." He said. She turned to face him.

"What!" she asked. Hiei turned and gave her a wicked glare.

"You get to sharpen all of my kantana's…." he said. "By hand!"

Satira took her time cleaning. She needed to think. She loved Yoko. _'How could this have happened!' _she thought weakly_. 'What am I going to do! I can't stay here! They will come after me. But, I…I can't leave him.'_ She thought of their kiss. She loved the feel of him next to her. But she knew what she had to do. She couldn't put him in the middle of this. The Raiders would find her, and they would attack anyone that got in their way. And if Yoko got hurt…she didn't know what she would do. All she had to do was get back her necklace, and she would do it…tonight. She finished her chores and slowly walked back to his room. She bit her lip. _'Here goes nothing.'_ She thought as she entered his room.


	20. Yoko and Satira, Hiei and Amira

Yoko looked up as Satira slowly entered the room. His heart beat faster and he wanted to kiss her, right where she stood. She closed the door softly behind her and stood there, looking at the floor.

"Satira." He said softly as she looked up at him. Her tail twitched nervously and Yoko had to smile. His tail was doing the exact same thing. She walked closer to him, keeping an eye out for her necklace. She stood right in front of him and looked up at him. They both just stood there, staring at each other, not knowing what to say or how to begin.

"I'm sorry." She finally said quietly. Yoko was stunned at her apology, but waited to hear what she was sorry for.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I have caused you." She said. And she meant it. She had started the thing just to get back at him for beating her fairly in a fight. And then when he had punished her, she reciprocated. She had caused a lot of problems for him and now that she thought back on it, part of the reason she did it, was because of the attention he gave her for it. Yoko smiled and reached into his pocket. He pulled out her silver locket and Satira looked at it hopefully. Yoko took her hand and placed the locket in it.

"And I am sorry for taking this from you." He said as he closed her hand over it. "I thought you were going to run when you saw those Raiders. I thought this would keep you here. But there really isn't a reason for me to keep it any longer." Satira smiled at having her necklace back.

"What is it about them?" Yoko asked her. "What is it about the Raiders that has you so spooked?" Satira dropped her gaze.

"Tell me." Yoko pressed. Satira was saved from answering by a knock on the door. Yoko looked up.

"Come in." he said as Kuroune entered. Yoko nodded at him and then looked at Satira.

"Why don't you go and get some sleep. We can talk in the morning." He said as she gave a nod and slipped out of the room. She quickly put her necklace back on and headed down the hall.

_'If I am still here in the morning'_ she thought to herself as she made her way to her room.

Yoko looked at Kuroune as he entered.

"What?" he asked.

"The Raiders have sent a message. They won't be coming tonight as they planned." Kuroune said. Yoko sat down.  
"Good, I didn't really want to see them anyway. I don't trust Sarkan."

"It's because of that neko isn't it?" Kuroune said mischievously.

"She's obviously afraid of them." Yoko said, trying to look indifferent. "But she isn't the only one."

"You love her. It's so obvious." Kuroune said with a smirk. "Just tell her and get it over with. Maybe then she'll tell you what her little problem is." Yoko shot Kuroune a look and started arranging things on his desk.

"I'll do it in my own time." Was all he said as Kuroune shrugged and left the room.

Amira gave another growl of irritation as she slid the stone's wet surface across Hiei's blade. She had to go out and pick the stones and then wet them so they didn't leave scratches on Hiei's precious weapons. After she was done with the first one, he had left her alone in his room to sharpen the rest katantas and she was glad. She was able to think freely without the constant threat of him invading into her thoughts. But what really aggravated her, was that most of her thoughts were about him, and she would lose focus and the stone would slip causing her to cut her hands on the blade. Her hands were already sore, and she still had ten more to go. Just how many swords did a demon need?! Seriously! If she didn't know any better she would have sworn that he had collected every sword in the entire place just to be spiteful. But she knew that each one of these swords were his. She gave a small cry as she started thinking of him and cut her hand. She winced as she looked at the cut.

"Great!" she muttered as she grabbed a cloth and dabbed at the cut. It wasn't deep and it didn't bleed much, but it still hurt. She picked up the stone again and continued her work as Hiei came in. She gave him a glare out of the corner of her eye, but otherwise ignored his presence.

"You're still not done!" he asked, knowing full well how long the task took. Amira turned and looked at him.

"Well your highness, if I could sharpen them the NORMAL way, I would be done by now!" she shot at him. Hiei smirked.

"But where would the fun be in that?" he replied as she gave an irritated huff. Hiei went and perched himself on the window sill and looked out at the now darkening sky.

"You can leave for the night when you are done with that one." He said to her. Amira looked at his profile and couldn't help but stare…he was cute. She drew in a sharp intake of breath as she cut herself again. Hiei looked at her sharply when he heard her. She quickly grabbed the cloth and dabbed at her new cut, oblivious to the concerned look Hiei was giving her.


	21. decisions made

Satira ran through the halls to her room. She prayed that Alianne or Amira wouldn't be in there to ask questions. They were her friends now, and she didn't think she could bear to lie to them. She peeked into the room and gave a sigh of relief. Neither of them was in there. Satira quickly changed out of Yoko's uniform and put on the clothes she had been wearing. She tied her hair back and looked around the room. She would miss this place, Amira, Alianne, and Yoko most of all. But this had to be done. Letting Yoko or someone else get hurt because of her was something she wouldn't allow. She peeked into the hall to find it deserted as she made her way to the front. She had heard about the raiders not coming and she had a feeling she knew why. They were probably forming a plan to convince Yoko to hand her over to them. But she would be long gone come morning, and they would have to start from square one all over again. She breathed a deep breath and went outside. The sounds of crickets filled the air and she scanned the surrounding area for guards. She spotted them. Two on the left and one on the right. They would be easy enough to avoid. She stayed in the shadows until one passed, wrapped her hand around her necklace, and made a break for the trees.

Yoko paced in his room. What was he supposed to do? Should he tell her how he felt, or just leave things where they were. He remembered the look on her face when she came into his room the second time. She looked scared. But who was she scared of? Him? Or the Raiders? Or was it something else altogether. When he had first challenged her, never did he think that it would lead to all this. Sure he had been attracted to her then, but that was all it was. Pure attraction, no feelings, no nothing. But then she had short sheeted him, and he had to admit that once he got over being angry, he did think it was kinda funny. She was clever, he would give her that. And then, after she dyed his clothes pink, he had felt like she wasn't doing it out of spite, but more like a game, in its own weird way. He would reprimand her, and she would do something else. Yoko stopped his pacing and looked out his window.

_'What is she hiding!'_ He wondered. _'It has something to do with the raiders, that's obvious enough. But, what?'_ He looked out the window lost in thought before he made a decision. He turned on his heels and strode out of his room, looking for Satira.

Hiei gave Amira a concerned look as she bent over her hand. She was completely oblivious to this as she wiped away the trickle of blood. She mentally rolled her eyes at herself for thinking about him, and for doing it while he was in the room. She picked up the rock she had been using and turned to get back to her task when she noticed Hiei staring.

"What now!" she demanded irritated. "Did I do something wrong your majesty!" she asked sarcastically.

"Let me see your hands." Hiei demanded. Amira was shocked but masked it behind a look.

"What for?" she asked incredulously.

"Just let me see them!" he said. Amira shook her head.

"No thanks, but…I would rather not." She said looking down at the sword lying across her lap. She moved the rock across the sword, creating a sharp edge as Hiei got up off his window sill and moved in front of her.

"Let me see." He said again as he reached out and stopped her hand. Amira's cheeks flushed red as he carefully turned them over to reveal the cuts she had gotten from her task.

"Where did you get these?" he asked looking at her. Amira averted her gaze.

"Nowhere." She replied.

"Liar." Hiei accused. "And I don't need my Jagan to tell me that." Amira glared at him as she jerked her hands away.

"Why do you even care!" she hissed. "Afraid I'll get blood on your precious weapon!"

"Just tell me how you got them!" Hiei ordered getting annoyed with her sarcasm.

"By doing your little chore!" She said. Hiei let go of her hands and stood up.

"Then you better stop doing it." He said. She looked up at him.

"But I'm not finished." She replied. Hiei glared at her.

"Do I look like I care! I said stop!" Amira dropped the sword and crossed her arms as he strode to the door. "Don't move." He ordered as he slammed the door behind him.


	22. Yoko's admission

Satira stopped to catch her breath under a tree. She leaned against it, taking in deep gulps of air. She had been running as fast as she could, trying to get as much distance between her and where the Raiders thought she would be. She started to turn her head, back in the direction she had come but stopped.

_'Don't look back!'_ she told herself. _'Nothing good ever came from it. I can't stay there.'_ She looked at the thinning forest in front of her. Surely by morning she would make it to the end of Yoko's territory. Then, who knew what would happen. She almost got caught once; some demon guard of his stopped her. But with a quick lie about how Yoko sent her to find something, she was back on the run having lost no more than five minutes. Her breath slowed as she sat under the tree for a moment. Her mind wandered to Yoko, and what he would do when he found out.

_'I wonder if he will even come and look for me._' She thought to herself. The sound of a twig snapping caused her to leap to her feet, ears alert for anything. A squirrel ran up a tree and she relaxed and let out the air she had been holding. She turned to leave when a voice stopped her.

"You forgot something."

Satira stared straight in front of her, afraid to see who it was behind her, and yet she knew exactly who it was. She slowly turned to see Yoko, holding her sword. His face was unreadable and she gave him a guilty look. He threw the sword at her, as it sunk into the dirt in front of her. She bit her lip and pulled it from the ground. She couldn't believe she had actually left her weapon behind.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"I came to bring you back." He said moving closer to her.

She stepped back and looked him defiantly in the eye.

"I'm not going back!" she answered. Yoko raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes you are. I beat you fair and square. You are my servant."

"Is that all I am to you!" she interrupted angrily. "A piece of property!"

Yoko stared at her for a moment. "You know that is not true." He said quietly.

"Then why even come after me!" she asked crossing her arms. "You have enough demons running around that place. You couldn't possible notice if one was missing."

Yoko smiled and he looked down. "You're right. I wouldn't notice if one took a day off every now and then. But…" he looked up at her, the smile replaced by a serious look. "I would notice if you were gone."

Satira took a step back in surprise. She averted her gaze so she wouldn't have to look into his piercing golden eyes.

"Why?" she finally asked. "You think your going to miss me dying your clothes pink?" Yoko shook his head in aggravation and tried to fight the small smile at the memory; as he walked closer to her.

"Haven't you figured it out that I love you!" he asked with exasperation. Satira immediately look up at him, shock written on her face.

"You what!?"

Yoko closed the space between then and kissed her. "I love you." He said again. Satira struggled with her emotions. She wanted to tell him that she loved him back, that she would go back with him. But it would just out of the question.

"Yoko….I can't." she said finally, pulling away. "You don't understand."

"Satira." He said softly as he pulled her to him and held her. "I don't care what you are hiding, what you did, or what you saw or whatever the reason is that your running…I love you. I want to protect you. I want you to stay with me... and…be my mate."


	23. Satira's Choice

Satira started at him in amazement, not sure if she heard correctly.

"You want me…to…be your mate!" she said finally, disbelieve coating her words. Yoko smiled at her.

"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked.

"Yes it is!" Satira practically shouted. All thoughts of running had flown from her mind. "I mean…look at all the things I did to you! I short sheeted you; I dyed your clothes pink; and disobeyed you all the time. Why would you want me to be your mate?!"

Yoko pulled her close to him. "For those exact reasons you mentioned." He said softly. Satira looked at the ground.

"Yoko" she said quietly, fighting tears. "I…I just can't." she said again.

"Why not?" he challenged. "Give me one good reason and you can go."

She gave him a watery smile. "Why do you always need a reason?"

He smiled back at her. "Because you never seem to have one and that means I can keep you." She choked back a laugh and hugged his neck. Yoko picked her up and swung her around.

"I love you Satira." He said in her ear.

"I love you too Yoko." She replied as he set her back down and kissed her.

Two pairs of eyes studied the couple under the tree. The moonlight gave them a perfect view as Yoko picked her up in his arms and carried her home.

"Bout time." One of them said as the two spies stepped out of their hiding place.

"Good." The other said as he stepped into the light to reveal Kuroune. "Maybe now he will stop daydreaming and get back to thieving."

His companion laughed as she stepped out as well. "You enjoyed the break and you know it." Alianne quipped.

"Something like that." Kuroune said rolling his eyes.

"Come on." Alianne said turning. "Let's go back too." Kurounenodded his head as he followed her back home.

Amira looked up as Hiei entered the room carrying an assortment of items.

"You get lost?" she asked as he shut the door. Hiei gave her a glare as he moved in front of her and reached for her hands. Amira jerked her hands out of his grasp. He made a noise of impatience as he grabbed her hands and turned them palm side up. He then pulled out a tube of antibiotics and gently applied them to her cuts. She had a quick intake of breath as he touched the cuts, but other wise was silent. She watched as he gently rubbed it in and Hiei looked up at her face.

After that he took a roll of white gauze and rapped it around her hands.

"Better?" he asked once he was done. Amira looked at him confused and then at her hands.

"Why did you do this?" she asked quietly. A hope that he did it because he cared about herrose in her chest, as she looked at him expectantly. A blush rose to his cheeks as he stood up and went and sat at his usual spot on the window sill.

"Yoko would kill me if you got hurt doing something that I made you do." He said simply. Amira's hope sank and she looked down.

"Oh." Was all she could say. Hiei looked at her out of the corner of his eye. Was she upset with his answer? Was she hoping for something else?

Amira stared at the floor for a moment, silently criticizing herself for thinking that he actually cared what happened to her. She picked up the sword and rock from before and quietly resumed her job. Hiei looked at her sharply as the sound of the rock sliding across the blade rang in his ears.

"What are you doing!" he demanded.

"Finishing my job!" she replied tartly.

"I thought I told you to stop doing that task!" Hiei said aggravated.

"But why! I'm not done." She hated to leave a job undone, whether or not she liked it.

Hiei growled. "So what? I tell you what to do and I say stop!" Amira sheathed the sword and dropped the rock.

"Happy?!" she asked scathingly.

"Delighted!" He replied. The two locked eyes in a glare for a moment.

"So you actually going to give me a better reason for making me stop other than…I said so?" She asked him crossing her arms. Hiei averted his gaze.

"You sound like my mom." She said, trying to taunt him into a response.

"I should think my reasons would be obvious." He answered quietly.

Amira was surprised at the quiet answer, very unlike him. "Well why don't you spell it out for those of us who don't have a Jagan."

Hiei swallowed and turned to face out the window, struggling with the decision to shrug it off; or tell her how he really felt.


	24. secrets out

Satira leaned against Yoko's chest as he carried her home. She didn't need to be carried, but being held by him felt so right she decided to let it go. She closed her eyes; she would have to tell him. She wasn't looking forward to it, but she knew that she couldn't run from him now. She loved him, and he loved her. Yoko kurama loved her. Just thinking that sent her into a mad blush. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He stared ahead, making their way through the forest. When he felt her gaze on him, he looked down at her and gave her a tender smile and kissed her forehead. She would then smile happily and snuggle into his chest as he hugged her closer. Her hand reached up and found her necklace. She absentmindedly fiddled with it as she thought of how and when to tell him when a thought occurred to her. What if he wanted to steal if for himself?! She bit her lip as she clutched it tighter. It was perfectly logical. After all, he was a thief. The raiders wanted it, why shouldn't he? She glanced up at him and then looked back down.

_'No,'_ she thought. '_He wouldn't do that to me. He loves me._' She mentally nodded in determination and looked up as they got back to the hideout. Many of the guards smirked as they watched their leader carry in the cat demon.

"Pay up." One guard said to the other as he slapped a couple bucks into his friend's hand. They had all known that Yoko liked her. It was only a matter of time until he told her. Yoko carried Satira to his room and gently set her down on his bed. He then sat next to her and looked at her.

"So you going to tell me why you were going to run away?" He asked. Satira looked down as he waited for her answer.

"You can tell me." He said encouragingly. "Where you running because of something I did?"

Satira's head shot up. "No! Not at all….aside from the punishments….you have been a perfect gentleman to me." Yoko smiled.

"You deserved every one of those and you know it." Satira blushed.

"I did do some pretty funny stuff though." Yoko shook his head.

"So then why?"

Satira looked down again and twisted her fingers around the chain that held her necklace.

"Because of the Raiders." She said finally. Yoko let out a sigh. One because he wasn't the reason she was running, and two he had through they spooked her.

"Why were you running from them?" he asked. "Did one of them hurt you?" She shook her head.

"No, they haven't really done anything to me…personally…" Her voice trailed off.

"Then what?"

"They want what I have." She said finally.

"And what do you have?" Yoko asked searchingly.

She reached behind her head and undid the clasp that held the necklace around her neck. "This." she answered as she placed the pendant and chain in his hand. Yoko raised an eyebrow.

"You're kidding me…right?" he asked. "You were running because they wanted your necklace?" Yoko had noticed she had a strange dependence on it, but to run because she thought they would want a necklace? It looked ordinary enough.

She shook her head. "No, I'm not. The Raiders want it….They killed my family to get it." Yoko was shocked at the information but kept his mouth shut, waiting to hear more.

"I think that is why the tried to make that treaty with you." She said standing and putting the necklace back on. "They traced me here, and they wanted to be able to search your territory to find me without complications."

"You don't have to worry about them." Yoko said coming to stand next to her and held her. "I won't make that treaty; it wasn't going to be that beneficial to me anyway." She shook her head.

"You think that will stop them! They will still come for it, except now they will start some kind of war on you and everyone on your side! That is why I was running; I didn't want you to get hurt because of me." She lowered her head.

Yoko held her close as she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"We'll think of something." He promised her.

Hiei stared out the window, Amira getting more impatient for his answer by the moment.

"WELL!" she yelled after what felt like an hour of silence. Hiei turned to her, his eyes once again cold.

"I don't need to explain my reasons to you." He said. Amira crossed her arms.

"You kept me waiting for that!" she asked outraged. She mentally cursed herself. _'You know what you were hoping'_ a voice inside her head told her. _'You wanted him to say that he liked you._'She quickly shot him a look to see if his Jagan had picked any of that up. He seemed lost in thought. She growled. It was hard to keep a secret with him in the room.

"Fine, since you don't want me to do that job anymore, what should I do now?"

Hiei looked at the sheathed sword she had been working on and the stone.

"Put those things away." He ordered. "And clean up anything else that needs to be in this room."

"And after that?" she asked, trying to keep from yelling at him.

"I will tell you when your done with that." Amira glared at him as she snatched up his sword and once again began the task of cleaning Hiei's room.


	25. getting help

After a while Yoko looked at Satira.

"Why do they want it so bad?" he asked. It seemed strange for the Raiders to go after something like that so passionately. Satira looked at it.

"Honestly, I don't know." She admitted. "It was given to my family by Koenma, the prince of Spirit World. He asked us to keep it safe, and well that is what I am doing."

Yoko looked at it. "Looks like just a locket."

Satira shrugged. "He told my grandmother that it opened unimaginable power." She gave a weak smile. "Original right? It's always unimaginable power."

Yoko smiled at her joke. "Yes, I guess that makes it a key. But to what, and where?"

"It could be anywhere. But even if we knew, what would we do about it?"

Yoko sighed. "I don't know….but you are right about one thing. If the Raiders have gone this far to track you, they will come for it."

"I don't want to put anyone in any trouble." She said quietly.

Yoko turned to her. "Will you just trust me to take care of you?" She looked unsure as he kissed her. "You'll be fine. You're under my protection now."

He turned his attention back to the locket in his hand. "Do you mind if I show this to Kuroune and everyone else?"

"Why?"

"They might know something. You never know." Satira shrugged. "I guess that would be ok."

He smiled and noticed how weary she looked. "I think you need to rest." He said.

"I'd argue, but I feel too tired." Yoko smiled as he picked her up and put her in his bed. "You sleep alright?"

She gave him a sleepy smile as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. He kissed her forehead and left the room, locket in his hands.

Hiei's Room

Amira had finished cleaning the room for the second time. The entire time she had glared at Hiei as he stared out the window. What he was thinking she had no clue, but it was really starting to annoy her. She would rather have him say annoying things then nothing at all. She hated silences. She stood up and looked at his profile. Whatever it was, it was something serious. She wished she had a Jagan, then she could invade that closed mind. Find out what he kept hidden from everyone else.

"Finished." She said interrupting his thoughts. Hiei looked at her confused for a moment.

"What?" he asked and looked around the room. "Oh," he said remembering. "Thanks." He said turning to look back out the window. Amira stood there a moment confused.

"Well?" she prodded. He looked at her, annoyed at his thoughts being interrupted again.

"Well what?"

"What do I do now?" she asked. Hiei shook his head, he needed to be alone. "Nothing. You can go and …do whatever it is you normally do. Go…fix your make-up or something."

Amira's eyes narrowed. "I resent that!" Hiei gave her a look that said he didn't really care.

"I am not some girl that just sits in front of a mirror for hours playing with my hair!" She yelled at him; her hands in fists.

"I didn't say you did. Not like you need it or anything." Hiei said, the compliment he had been hiding slipping out. Amira uncurled her hands and stared in shock.

"What?" she asked.

Hiei mentally hit himself. "I said you're a total loss looks wise." Amira's slowly smiled until Hiei finished his sentence. "For a wolf demon that is." Amira's anger immediately resurfaced.

"What is that supposed to mean!" she demanded to know. Hiei was saved an answer as Yoko knocked on the room and entered.

"I need your help." He said.


	26. examining the necklace

Hiei and Amira stared at him for a moment.

"Help with what?" Hiei finally asked.

"Meet me in the conference room in five minutes." Yoko instructed as he left to find Kuroune.

Amira hung her head. "So much for getting any sleep tonight." She said to herself.

Hiei glanced at her. "Assuming I would have let you get any." He said. Amira rolled her eyes and left, followed by Hiei. When they got there, Yoko and Satira were already there; along with Kuroune.

Hiei sat down across from Yoko. "So you caught her again before she got too far." He said in reference to Satira. Yoko nodded as Amira gave him a look.

"What?" she asked looking at Satira. "You left?" Satira nodded quietly as Amira turned back to Hiei. "And how did YOU know?"

Hiei's jagan glowed under the bandana as Amira crossed her arms.

"That eye is so cheap!" she huffed.

Kuroune looked at Yoko. "So what do you want our help with?"

Yoko reached into his pocket and pulled out Satira's locket. "Any of you know anything about this?" he asked as he placed it on the table.

Hiei looked at it with a bored expression. "Looks like just a necklace to me."

"Thank you captain obvious." Amira quipped. Hiei tossed her a look, about to retort.

"Can you two keep your little married couple spats quiet for now?" Kuroune asked annoyed.

They both glared at him for the married couple comment as Yoko cleared his throat. "I'm serious." He said. "You guys know anything about that necklace?" Kurnoune picked it up and looked at it. "Nope." He said tossing it back on the table. Satira opened her mouth to tell them to be careful with it, but closed it when Yoko squeezed her hand. Amira picked it up and held it dangling in front of her face.

"It's pretty, but looks like an ordinary necklace to me."

"There is a design on it." Hiei said suddenly.

"Yeah so?" Yoko asked.

"I've seen it before."

Satira looked at him. "Really? Where?"

He shrugged. "I don't remember. It was just some time ago."

"Some help you are!" Amira said handing the necklace back to Satira.

"Anyway you can find out where you saw it?" Yoko asked Hiei.

"What is the big deal?" Kurnoune interrupted. "It's a locket!"

"Well it's a big enough deal that that is what the Raiders are looking for." Yoko informed him. Kurnoune arched an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked, his interest peaked.

"Why?" Amira cut in.

"It's a key…to what I don't know. I just know I am supposed to guard it." Satira said quietly.

"And telling everyone it's a key is going to make your job easier?" Hiei asked sarcastically.

"Do you think it's possible for you to go one day without being an ASS!" Amira shouted at him.

"Cut it out!" Yoko yelled at them. "Both of you! Now I could really use your help with this!" Hiei and Amira both shot each other one more glare and returned their attention back to the locket.

"Now, Hiei, you're the only lead we have." Yoko said. "If you could just give us a general area that you saw it in."

"It was a cave." He said. "Where I don't remember. I was coming back from a mission you gave me, and I stopped in the cave for the night when it was raining. That's all I remember."

Yoko leaned back in his chair.

"This…cave." Satira said slowly. "Do you think you would recognize it if you saw it again?"

Hiei shrugged. "Maybe."

"Why? Do you know what cave he is talking about?" Amira asked her.

Satira shook her head. "No, I was just wondering."

"You must have at least SOME idea of where you saw it." Kuroune said. Hiei thought for a moment. "Yeah. It was near the hot spring in the pine forest."

Yoko frowned. "Great, that is Raider territory."


	27. new assignment

"Well that is convenient." Kuroune said as Satira sunk down in her seat.

"Well I guess that explains how they even knew about the necklace in the first place." She said. "They must have found that cave, seen the marking on the wall and then…somehow found in on the necklace and heard the legend."

Hiei looked at her. "What!"

Satira shrugged. "I don't know I am still at a loss as to how they found out about the necklace in the first place, that was the only reason I could think of!"

"Either way," Yoko said looked at them. "We have to go and look at that cave. Hiei, Amira!"

The two looked startled. "What?" Amira asked.

"I want you and Hiei to go and find that cave again, I want exact coordinates."

Hiei looked like the last thing he wanted to do was to be involved in this. "Why do I have to!" Hiei asked annoyed.

"Because you're the only one who has seen the cave for one. And two because I asked you too!" Yoko said giving him a glare that dared him to defy. Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Ok fine, I'll go." He said.

"Thank you Hiei." Satira said with a small smile at him. Hiei looked at her smile and her appreciative look and his scowl softened.

"Welcome." He said, trying to sound annoyed. "But why does SHE have to come!" he asked pointing to Amira.

Amira sharply turned her head to him. "What is that supposed to mean!"

Hiei tossed her a patronizing look. "It means you will slow me down."

Amira glared. "I am NOT slow."

Hiei raised an eyebrow.

"Is that a challenge!" Amira asked, eyes flashing dangerously.

"GUYS! COOL IT!" Yoko yelled. They both looked at him.

"Can you two please stop acting like your three! Now you two are both my best scouters and I need both of you on this! Now go and FIND THAT CAVE!"

Hiei and Amira looked at Yoko's serious face.

"Ok." They both said together.

"When do they leave?" Kuroune asked. Yoko looked thoughtful.

"Why don't we rest for tonight. And you two can head over there some time tomorrow." They nodded as they all got up and went to the rooms, the meeting over.

Yoko's room

Satira sat on his bed looking thoughtful as Yoko put an arm around her. "What is it?" he asked.

"I feel bad making them do this. It's obvious they don't want to go! It doesn't seem fair to make them." She said.

Yoko smiled. "It will be alright. It gives them a chance to work together which is what they need to learn how to do."

"Anyway, Hiei is the only one who has seen it and he might need some help." He added when she didn't look convinced. She smiled at him.  
"Thank you for this Yoko. I'm not sure what will happen, but I am ready to stop running." Yoko tilted her chin up to look at him.

"Good, because I don't want you running from me again." He said softly as he kissed her.

"I don't think you will have to worry about that again." She whispered as he kissed her again.

"Now, go to sleep and tomorrow Hiei and Amira will go to the cave and bring back a report. Then we can decide on the next course of action."

Satira nodded as she fell asleep against his chest. Yoko picked her up and tucked her in and then fell asleep himself.


	28. last minute instructions

Hiei and Amira woke up early the next morning, ready to find the cave.

"I hope you have some idea of where it is." She said to him as he reached for his kantata.

"None." He replied without looking at her.

"We could be out there for days!" she said with her hands on her hips.

"Not my problem." Hiei said uncaringly as he walked outside of his room.

"It is your problem because I have to tag along with you and I can make this little search journey of our not fun for you." She said as a threat. Hiei growled. He knew she would have no problem annoying the heck out of him. She did it anyway.

"Don't forget we made a bet and you lost." Hiei reminded her, waving the scrap of paper the bet was on in her face. "So you still have to do every little thing I say."

Amira made a grab for the paper but he moved it out of reach. Hiei smirked. "See you at the front gate." He replied as he walked off. Amira seethed with annoyance. That little pest was going to lord that over her for as long as she lived. She would be glad when the week was over and the bet was done. It has only been two days and he was getting way to cocky about it. She tossed her head as he golden tail lashed back and forth and walked to the front gate.

Hiei walked to Yoko's room, hoping that he wasn't going to interupt on his making out with Satira. He knocked and waited as he heard Yoko making his way to the door. Yoko opened it, stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Hiei raised an eyebrow.

"She's sleeping." Yoko answered in explanation.

"Have her up all night?" Hiei accused.

"Aren't you supposed to be gone by now!" Yoko snapped.

"I just came by to tell you that we were leaving." He replied calmly. "I don't know for sure how long it will take us to find that cave, but once we do we will come straight back."

Yoko nodded in affirmation. "And if you can, try to find out what the Raiders know. Amira is part wolf; she can talk to the wolves around that area. They might have over heard something."

Hiei nodded. "It shouldn't take us too long, the Raider territory isn't too big and we have a general idea of where it is."

"Come back as soon as you find out anything." Yoko instructed. "And try to keep from ripping each others head off."

"I'm not making any promises." Hiei replied as he walked to the front gate. He saw Amira with her arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.

"About time you got here." She said as he came into view.

"I was getting last minute instructions." He replied.

"And…" she prompted, waiting to hear what they were.

"He told me to kill you off when you weren't looking." He said casually. Amira narrowed her eyes.  
"Cute." She replied sarcastically. Hiei gave her a smirk in return as he turned his back to her.

"Let's go." He said. "And…try to keep up." He added.

Amira stood next to him. "We'll see who gets left behind." She challenged as they both took off. Hiei jumped from tree to tree, like a black blur as Amira raced along under him. They were both evenly matched and both were holding back.

"What's the matter Hiei?" she yelled up to him as she drew slightly ahead. "Feeling a little slow?" Hiei sped up at her remark.

"Just making sure you didn't get lost." He replied as he jumped down from the tree and ran next to her.

She tossed him a smile. "Didn't know you cared." She said to him.

"I don't." Hiei said. "I just want this to be over and I don't want to have to spend time searching for you when you're crying that your lost."

Amira bared her teeth. "I do not cry!" she shouted. Hiei hned as they continued the rest of their journey in silence.


	29. shaky beginnings

Satira watched from the front window as Hiei and Amira disappeared out of sight. They were going to look for the cave, for her. She fingered the necklace, this little trinket has cuased so many problems, she thought to herself. _'But, once we find the cave, then what?'_ She hadn't really thought about it. They obviously couldn't release whatever her locket was the key to. So what could they do? She sat down, lost in thought. Maybe she could destroy it, then, no one could get to it. But then King Enma would be furious, and who knew what he would do. She was so lost in thought she didn't hear Yoko come in behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around.

"Yoko." She breathed with relief.

"Sorry to startle you." He said with a laugh. "I thought you were asleep."

"I woke up when you went outside to talk to Hiei." She explained. He nodded and sat next to her.

"You seem distracted." He commented.

"I was just thinking, once Amira and Hiei find the cave, then what?"

"We can cross that bridge when we come to it." Yoko said. She raised an eyebrow at him. "This coming from the guy that always plans three steps in advance?"

Yoko smiled. "well I have to know everything about it before I can make a plan. That is why I sent Hiei and Amira. They are my best spies."

Satira nodded. "Thank you for all of this Yoko. Still hard for me to believe your still doing all this for me."

Yoko looked at her. "Why wouldn't I?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"Because of how I was to you!" she protested. "I played all those mean pranks on you." Yoko laughed.

"They were funny, and I deserved half of them." He leaned forward and kissed her. "And it's what made me notice you long enough to fall in love with you." She blushed as he kissed her again.  
with Hiei and Amira

Hiei and Amira had been running through the forest all day when they noticed that it was getting dark. Amira looked to the side and met Hiei's eyes. He nodded in understanding and they both slowed their pace.

"Doesn't look like we will make it there tonight." Amira said to Hiei. "Our best bet is to camp inside Yoko's territory tonight. That way, we will have all day to look for the cave. Hopefully we can find it, and get back by tomorrow. I would rather not spend a night in raider territory."

Hiei glanced at her. "Why you scared?" he taunted. She shot him a look.

"Can't you find another hobby besides bugging me for just…ten minutes!" she yelled with exasperation. She shook her head and walked to a nearby stream, not even waiting for his smart alec answer. Hiei watched her retreating back. The thought that she really was annoyed with him was oddly unsettling and he didn't like it. Maybe he could stop bugging her, but only for a little while. He watched as she took a drink from the stream and splashed some water on her face.

"You hungry?" he asked her suddenly. She looked back at him.

"What?" she asked confused.  
"Are you hungry?" he repeated. "If you can build us a fire, I can go get us some food." She looked at him assessingly for a moment then gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I can do that." She agreed. Hiei nodded and disappeared in a blur of black. She stood up and in a few moments had a small fire going. While she waited for him to get back, she managed to catch a few fish from the near by stream. She knew he liked fish. She had them roasting by the fire when Hiei returned with a deer.

"That didn't take too long." She said as he silently began to skin the deer. "And I caught some fish." His eyes moved to the almost cooked fish as the corner of his mouth turned up into what was a smile.

"I like fish." He replied.


	30. Satira's new lessons

Hiei and Amira woke up early the next morning.

"Ready to go?" He asked her. She gave a long yawn and stretched.

"Yeah," she said making sure the fire she had built the night before was out. "Let's go."

The two made it to Raider territory without incident and began their search. After they had crossed the border, Hiei's memory on where he had seen the cave slowly improved and they were able to find it in a relatively short time.

"In here." He said, walking though the entrance. Amira looked up at it. The mouth of the cave was round and a bluish gray. Stalagmites hung from the ceiling and pointed down to the stalatites that grew up from the ground, giving Amira the impression of stepping into the mouth of some waiting beast. She hesitated at the entrance, something didn't feel right.

"You coming!" Hiei demanded impatiently from inside.

Amira rolled her eyes. "Coming!" she yelled back as she swallowed the feeling and walked inside.

with Yoko and Satira

"Morning." Yoko said cheerfully to the stretching cat. She looked at him through sleepy eyes.

"How are you up so early all the time?" she asked as she flung back the blanket.

"I have a hideout to run." Yoko replied. "Now get up. I have things for you to do." Satira looked at him.

"Do?" she questioned. Yoko raised an eyebrow.

"You don't think that just because I love you means you get to skip out on working do you?" he said with a smile.

"Well, not anymore." She replied teasingly. Yoko laughed.  
"No, you still have things I need you to do." He said as he tossed her clothes. "But you do get out of wearing the uniform."

"Finally," she said with a smirk. "Sleeping with the boss pays off." Yoko caught her teasing look and shook his head.

"So what do I have to do?" she asked him.

"Today, you're just following me around." He said coming to stand next to her. "I want you to learn to take over in case me or Kuroune isn't here."

"What? Why?" she asked totally confused. Yoko turned to face her.

"Because I am the leader, and if you're going to be my mate, I will need you to look after things here for a while." He said, cupping her cheek tenderly. The thought of the responsibility of being Yoko's mate made her head swim. She wasn't really a thief and she didn't know much about thief etiquette. Yoko saw the look on her face and worried thoughts that she might refuse the job and run again ran across his mind.

"It won't always be easy." He admitted softly. "There are a lot of things to do, and when me and Kuroune are out on a thief, people will come to you with problems and when decisions need to be made." Satira looked up into his golden eyes. He was right of course, and she knew it wouldn't be easy, but she found that whatever it was she didn't care. She wanted to be here, with him, and that was all that mattered to her.

"I know." She said looked at him. "But being your mate is well worth it."

Yoko smiled and leaned down to gently kiss her.


	31. more complications

"How far does this cave go?" Amira asked Hiei as they walked through the darkness.

"I don't remember." He replied uncaringly.

"What do you remember?" she asked annoyed.

"I am currently remembering why you annoy me." He responded not looking at her.

"Didn't know you forgot that." She retorted, her arms crossed.

In truth, Hiei had forgotten it, at least temporarily. Last night while they were eating, he couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked in the moonlight. He inwardly growled. Why was he even thinking this! It was AMIRA; of all people; the wolf demon that has been his competition for as long as he could remember. The way Yoko ran his little territory was that the ones that were higher up in rank, got more of the spoil. So Hiei obviously, wanted to be of higher rank. Which he was, but Amira was also. Hiei had wanted her gone or at least wanted to be one rank above her, now he was finding out, that beating her…just didn't seem as important anymore and it bothered him. He looked back at her as she scanned the walls of the cave.

'_Good thing she doesn't have a Jagan.'_ He thought to himself. If she knew what he was thinking he would never hear the end of it. They reached a branching of passage ways and they both stopped.

"Which way oh fearless leader?" Amira asked him sarcastically.

"If I remember, one of these ends in a dead end after a while." He said.

"And that is which one?" Amira asked.

"Not sure, so go check it out." Hiei instructed. Amira glared at him and put her hands on her hips. "Why don't you! You're the one that has been to this cave before!"

"Your going because I don't want to go and you still have to do whatever I say!" Hiei answered smugly. Amira narrowed her eyes but stalked past him into the left passage, her tail swishing angrily. Hiei was glad that he was alone for the moment, especially after he caught himself staring at her butt as she walked away from him.

"What is the matter with me!" He asked himself as he sat down on a rock and crossed his arms.

With Amira

Amira's brown eyes scanned the passage carefully. She may be annoyed with the twerpy little fire demon, but she knew better than to let her anger make her unobservant. The further she went, the colder she felt.

"I feel a cold wind." She said aloud to herself. "I wonder if there is an opening to the outside." She looked up at the ceiling but saw nothing that would indicate an opening. She shivered in the cold and continued on. Amira soon ran into the dead end and turned back around without really noticing it, satisfied that she had found the end. She walked back to Hiei as he looked up at her.

"This is the dead end." She said, pointed over her shoulder from the direction she had just come. He stood up.

"Was it down there?" he asked.

She looked at him confused.

"Was….what down there?"

"The marking." He said, looking at her like she was stupid.

"What marking!" she asked annoyed.

"The one that is on Satira's necklace, and the one that is the reason that we came down here to find!" he snapped at her.

"You never told me it was down there! You just said it was a dead end and you needed to know which path was it!" she yelled back.

"Well I thought it would be obvious!" Hiei said angrily. "I mean you were down there! What did you just turn around as soon as you saw the dead end!"

"YES! I didn't know I had to LOOK for some…"

Amira's words were cut off as a hand appeared out of nowhere behind her and clamped on to her mouth and around her arms. She gave a muffled scream of surprise as Hiei drew his kantata.

"Put down your weapon or she dies now." A voice commanded.

_"Looks like I am dieing now."_ She thought to herself when to her shock Hiei sheathed it.

"What do you want?" He asked in a menacing voice.

"I want the necklace." The voice said as Prakash moved into Hiei's view from behind Amira. "And I intend to get it. Go back to your thief lord and tell him to hand it and the cat over! And to insure that he does, I will keep this one here." He said as he shook Amira for effect. Amira turned wide eyes to Hiei as he looked at her calmly. Even though he couldn't see them, he knew that Prakash wasn't alone. He could sense that they were surrounded and fighting now would be a grave mistake.

"Be calm." He said to Amira telepathically with his Jagan. "We're surrounded. I'll go back and tell Yoko. Then we'll come back for you." Amira gave him a glare that told him he had better come back for her.

He smirked at her. "Don't worry, I'll come back." He assured her as he turned to Prakash. "I'll tell Yoko as long as she remains safe while I am gone." Prakash nodded in agreement as Hiei ran out of the cave and sped toward Yoko's territory.


	32. They've got her

Satira observed Yoko silently all day. For being a thief he did a lot more than she thought, and she was getting nervous about the idea that she might have to take over one day. He was currently engrossed in a map of a territory that belonged to a rivaling thief not far from him. This thief, who called himself the Raven, was infamous for the carved Raven he left whenever he stole something. Yoko was currently in a passive aggressive war with the Raven. Apparently, they had been after the same artifact and the Raven had gotten there first. A sore spot that Yoko glowered at every time it was mentioned.

"And your sure that the river is shallow here?" Yoko asked pointing to a spot on the map. Yoko's spy nodded. "I passed through it myself with no problem." He answered. Yoko rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "They must know about the river being shallow." He said aloud. "We'll have to find a less obvious way in."

"What about from above?" Satira said softly. Yoko looked up at her.

"Above?"

She nodded shyly. "See, right there. The trees are close to their wall." She pointed to a clump of trees on the map. "I bet, that you could climb the trees and drop down inside their walls from the branches."

Yoko gave her an encouraging smile. "That idea has potential. But I want to make sure that those trees aren't watched or guarded. And if they are, I want to know by what, and everything about it."

The spy nodded. "Yes sir." He said as he rolled up his map and left the room.

Yoko pulled Satira to his lap and nuzzled her neck. "Your going to be quite handy to have around." He said in her ear.

"You just now figured that out?" she teased. Yoko laughed and kissed her when Hiei came bursting in. Yoko glared sharply at Hiei as he stood up angrily.

"It's called KNOCKING Hiei!" Yoko spat.

"We have a problem." Hiei said, ignoring Yoko's anger. Yoko instantly became all business, his anger subsiding for the moment.

"What?" he asked.

"We found the cave." He started.

Satira looked happy. "Great." She said. "Not great." Hiei retorted. "We were being followed, the Raiders now know where the design is on the cave wall and they captured Amira."

Satira face paled. "They got her? Is she ok!"

Hiei nodded. "For now, but if you don't hand over the necklace and the cat to them she won't be." Satira's striped ears laid flat against her head in shock and worry as her tail nervously twitched and she bit her lip. Yoko saw her tell tale signs of worry.

"We'll get her back." Yoko said to appease her as he turned to Hiei. "What did they say exactly?"

"Just that he would keep Amira relatively healthy until you brought him the necklace and her." He said pointing to Satira. Yoko gave a low growl of irritation.  
"I should have known they would do something like this." He rounded on Hiei. "You're supposed to be one of my best, why didn't you notice you were being followed!"

Hiei glared. "Look, I am not perfect!" he snapped. "Just give them the feline and the necklace!"

Satira looked hurt at his suggestion. Hiei noticed and felt a twinge of guilt for saying it, but they had Amira and it bothered him more than he cared to admit. Yoko thought for a moment.

"Alright," he said finally. Satira's eyes went wide with betrayal. Yoko turned to look at her hurt expression.

"Yoko." She said in a soft whisper as she backed away from him, her hand around her necklace. Yoko moved over to her and pulled her close, not giving her a chance to struggle.

"Don't worry my love. I'm not letting them have you. I just want them to think that I have." She nodded slowly.

"Promise?" she asked him, her eyes begging for reassurance. Yoko kissed her and nuzzled her neck. "I would never let them get you." She leaned into him as Hiei cleared his throat in annoyance at the public displays of affection.

Yoko gave him a look as he straightened. "Alright, let me do some things before we go and lets get moving."


	33. We're going after her

It was a couple of hours after that that Yoko was ready to go. Yoko left Kuroune in charge while he was gone and set off for the cave with Satira and Hiei. He had arranged to be followed by a group of his most trusted thieves to call on in case the situation arose. Yoko had a plan worked out and he hoped he wouldn't have to resort to using them, but he was not above using brute force to get his way.

Now that Hiei remembered where the caves were, he was able to lead them on a more direct path, but it would still take a day to make the journey. They stopped later that night and rested. Hiei left to find a river for some water, leaving Satira and Yoko alone. She stared silently into the fire, fighting the fear that was growing inside her. Yoko watched her, and noted her swishing tail that indicated her emotions.

"I'm not going to give you to them." He said suddenly, breaking the silence. She jumped when he spoke, but nodded in an unconvinced way.

"I know." She said softly. Yoko moved over to her and puts his arm around her.

"Then why so worried?" he asked.

"I'm not." She protested as he gave her a knowing look.

She made a face. "Ok, maybe I am worried. But…can you blame me?"

"I am not going to let them get you." He reassured her. "You're just going to have to trust me."

"I know." She said softly. "But this is all my fault. You should have let me go when you had the chance."

"Why would I do a stupid thing like that?" He asked her.

"Gee, I don't know. You wouldn't have been shortsheeted, half your clothes wouldn't have ended up being pink, and you wouldn't have had to deal with the raiders capturing Amira!" she replied sharply ticking off items on her fingers.

"I think it's all worth it." He said softly, putting his hand over her fingers to stop the counting. "I love you. And we will get Amira back." He smiled. "And anyway, I don't think Hiei will let us leave without her." Yoko smirked knowingly.

"I think they like each other." Satira said simply, looking into the fire.

"I know they do." Yoko answered. "They just don't know it yet. Why do you think I pair them up all the time?" Satira smiled at him.

"You sneaky fox!" she laughed.

"Either way, they need to learn to get along. And I think they are well on their way to doing it."

"So you think they will stop arguing?" Satira asked.

Yoko laughed. "No, they'll still argue. But it will be more like playful banter instead of them actually trying to kill each other."

"You mean kinda like we were?" Satira asked with a smile.

"We were never ready to kill each other." Yoko said.

"I was." She said teasingly. He looked sharply at her and then realized she was kidding.

"That's not funny." He said. She burst out laughing.

"What are you two making so much noise about?" Hiei asked annoyed when he came back. "I heard you all the way at the river, might as well announce to them that we are here!"

"I didn't know us coming to get Amira was a secret Hiei." Satira shot back.

"Hn" was all Hiei said as he jumped into a tree.

"You're really worried about her, aren't you?" She asked him. Hiei looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say another. Yoko and Satira looked at each other knowingly.

with Amira

Amira glared daggers at anyone who was brave enough to pass in front of where she was tied. The Raiders had made camp in front of the cave, their leader waiting impatiently with arms crossed for Yoko. After Hiei had left; they dragged her to the front of the cave, dug a pole into the ground and proceeded to tie her to it. Having learned from Yoko himself, she could have easily gotten free, but as she was surrounded there wouldn't have been any use.

"See them?" Prakash asked one of his returning scouters.

The scout shook his head causing Prakash to growl in irritation.

"Guess he cares more about that cat than you." He said as he strode over to Amira. She glared up at him.

"We'll see." She said calmly, turning her head haughtily away from him.


	34. Feelings of betrayal

The next morning Satira, Yoko, and Hiei were ready to move on right as the sun rose. Satira stretched and shaded her eyes against the sun.

"So what is this master plan of yours?" Satira asked, turning to look at Yoko.

"Just follow my lead." Yoko said to her. "I think it best if you don't know. I don't want them to think I have something planned." Satira wasn't happy about not knowing, and her instincts told her to insist on hearing the plan. But she ignored it, deciding to trust him.

"You two ready yet?" Hiei asked annoyed.

Yoko shot him a look as they moved on.

About a couple hours later Yoko saw a movement in the trees a bit ahead of them. He watched it as it ran away from them.

"Alright." He said softly to Hiei and Satira. "We are close. His scout has already seen us."

"The cave isn't far from here." Hiei added. Yoko looked at Satira.

"I really need you to trust me on this." Yoko said to her as he pulled out a rope. Satira looked at the rope suspisciously.

"What are you doing with that?" She wanted to know, backing away a little.

"I have to make it look like I am really giving you to them." He said stepping toward her. Satira's eyes widened.

"YOU WANT TO TIE ME UP!" she shouted at him.

"hush!" Hiei hissed at her. "You want them to know this is fake!"

"Come on Satira." Yoko said taking another step. "Trust me." She looked up at him, eyes suspicious.

"Why can't you tell me!" she insisted. "Why is this a huge secret from me! I am part of this little team too you know!"

"Yes, you are." Yoko said soothingly. "But you're just going to have to trust me." He could have told her the plan. And he wanted to, but he needed to know that she could trust him. Even when it looked like he was betraying her. Yoko took a step toward her again, but she didn't move back this time. He smiled gently at her and tied her hands behind her back, holding the other end of the rope.

"You'll be ok." He said leaning forward to kiss her head. She moved her head out of reach as he sighed. "Guess I deserved that." He said as he started walking.

"Now let's go." He said as the three started forward again.

Amira leaned back against the pole she was tied to extremely bored, and irritated. Her interest peaked when one of Prakash's scouts came back with the news that he had seen them.

"Who was with him?" Prakash demanded to know.

"The cat, the fox and the demon that was with her." The scout said, nodding in Amira's direction. "And they have the cat tied up." Amira narrowed her eyes.

'_What are you up to Yoko?'_ She thought to herself. "_I know you aren't giving her up, so what is the plan?'_

Prakash smiled. "Good." He said sounding pleased. He turned to look at Amira.  
"Looks like he values your life after all." He said as he crossed his arms and waited. Amira said nothing, but started loosening the knot that bound her hands.

A few moments later, Yoko and Hiei appeared, an angry Satira being pulled along. Prakash smiled as he saw the sun glinting off the silver of the necklace around her neck.

"Alright." Yoko said stopping in front of him. "Here she is." Yoko pulled on the rope and dragged Satira toward Prakash who grinned greedily at her.

"Now where is Amira?" Yoko asked. Prakash made a noncommittal wave in her general direction as she was cut loose and pushed toward him.

"Bout time." She said rubbing her wrists. She looked at Hiei as he met her gaze, a silent thanks running between then as they both tossed their heads pretending to look annoyed with each other.

Satira's tail lashed back and forth as she looked at Yoko. Was he really going to give her to them? Did he betray her?

"Thank you for your business Yoko." Prakash said roughly grabbing Satira's arm. "But I think that this is the last we will see of each other." Prakash gave a whistle as his men surrounded them.

"Now, you have two choices." Prakash said to Yoko. "Leave now and forget the cat, or you can try to take her back and you can die. It's your choice."

Satira's ears lay flat against her head, her look to Yoko begging. Yoko looked at her, his face unreadable.

"Take her. I already got what I wanted from her." Was all he said as he turned around and walked back to his hideout without a second look.


	35. broken heart

Satira's mouth hung open in shock. "Yoko!" she called as she made a movement to go after him, but Prakash jerked on the rope and she fell to the ground with a thud.

"Tsk tsk tsk." He scolded. "Your mine now, feline." He said. "So don't think you can get away." He picked her up and stared greedily at the silver locket on her neck.

"Finally, it is within my grasp!" he said as he looked up into Satira's still shocked eyes. He smirked and shoved her to Sarkan. "Get everything ready." He instructed. "We leave for the cave." Sarkan nodded.  
"And what about the fox?" He asked.

Prakash looked over in the direction that Yoko had left. "Send someone to follow them." He instructed. "If they stop or make a move to turn back…kill them." Prakash instructed. Sarkan nodded obediently as he watches his leader turn and walk into his tent. Satira looked back over to where Yoko had left and hung her head in defeat. "Yoko." She whispered as Sarkan dragged her off.

Sarkan tied her to the pole they had kept Amira imprisoned to and looked at her. "You better hope that whatever your locket is the key to makes Prakash happy." He warned her. Satira looked up at him but said nothing.

"He has waited a long time to get it and if it is not pleasing to him, he will take it out on you."

Satira just looked away, her heart too broken to care. Sarkan look at her and left as she sighed in despair. '_It's over._' She thought to herself. '_I couldn't keep it safe mom, dad.' _A tear rolled down her cheek. '_And I was betrayed, by the only one I ever loved.'_

Yoko kept his gaze straight ahead as he left Satira behind. Hiei and Amira watching him in disbelief.

"Aren't you going to go back and get her!" Amira finally asked.

"Do you see me turning around!" Yoko snapped as he kept walking. Amira opened her mouth in wordless surprise.

"But!" she protested as Yoko spun around. "BUT WHAT!" he yelled as she took a step back.

"What else could I do! They had us surrounded, and there was only three of us." He growled. "There was no other choice, live to fight another day." He said.

Amira glared at him. "How could you do that to her!" She sputtered. "You loved her! She trusted you and you TRICKED HER!"

"I am a fox and a thief, tricking is my specialty." He said quietly.

Hiei stood there silently, staring discerningly at Yoko.

"Lets keep moving." He said casually. "We need to hurry if we want to be back by morning." He said as he started walking again.

Yoko nodded and fell into step beside him.

"I don't believe this!" Amira said following them. "You too Hiei."

"Like I care what happens to her." Hiei said. "I didn't love her. She was just a servant, nothing more."

"She was not!" Amira defended. "Guys! We have to go back and get her!"

"Would you have rather we left you to them!" Yoko asked her harshly. "You know what they would have done to you."

Amira hung her head. "Well, no." she said. "But…"

"Then there you go. We had no other choice." He finished as he turned his head straight forward. Amira closed her mouth and followed behind them silently. Shaking her head helplessly.

Two raiders watched from the trees and listened to the argument down below.

"Looks like they really are leaving without a fight." One said to the other. The second nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I believe they will continue on." He said and looked up.

"Go and inform Sarkan and Prakash." The second instructed. "I will continue to watch them for a while longer." The first nodded and left in a flurry of leaves as the second turned his attention to the retreating trio.


	36. what happens next?

Yoko's sensitive fox ears hear the rustling of the leaves, leaving only one scout behind. He smirked as he quickly turned around and shot a seed at him. The scout opened his mouth to scream out the alarm, but the seed hit him square in the heart, the seed embedded in him and burst into bloom, killing him instantly. Amira whirled around confused as she saw the scout fall to the ground dead. Hiei looked on calmly.

"Good." Yoko said moving over to the dead body and hiding him beneath some foliage.

"What was THAT all about!" Amira demanded to know.

"We're going back for her." Hiei answered. Amira looked up at Yoko.

"You were faking!" she asked.

Yoko stood up from hiding the scout and looked back in the direction they had just come from. "Did you really think that I would let them have her?" He asked, his eyes searching for her. "I love her."

Hiei shook his head. "You know nothing wolf."

Amira glared at him. "What is that supposed to mean!" she snapped at him, irritated at being left out of the loop.

"I had to make them believe I wasn't coming back for her." Yoko explained as he started walking determinedly back towards the Raider camp. "I couldn't tell Satira because if she knew she wouldn't be convincing."

"He also needed to know that she would trust him." Hiei added.

Yoko nodded. He hated that he had to put her through that, but it was all part of the plan. He would get her back.

Amira sighed and was silent as she thought about it. "And you knew about this!" She shot at Hiei. He nodded calmly.

"Why did you tell him and not me!" She demanded to know.

"I didn't tell him." Yoko replied.

"Then how did you know!" Amira asked.

Hiei sighed as his Jagan glowed under the bandana. Amira's face became a scowl. "I'm going to tear that eye off!" She growled as she ran at him.

Yoko grabbed her arm as Hiei gave her a bored expression. "Cut it out!" He ordered. He glared at the two and let go of Amira's arm.

"We save my mate." He said seriously. "Then you two can kill each other." He said as he strode off. Amira looked confused and followed him.

"You marked her?" she asked.

"When we get her back, I will." He said, "I didn't want the Raiders to find it and know I would come back." He sighed and closed his eyes.  
"I'm coming my love." He said softly.

Satira sat on her knees, her arms tied behind her to a post. She didn't look up when Prakash came to stand over her, or when Sarkan offered her some water. She just sat there, her bangs hiding her eyes. She heard the scout inform Sarkan that Yoko was last seen heading steadily toward the border, making no sign of turning back. A tear slipped down her cheek and she bit her lip. Prakash nodded and looked at the miserable cat.

"Good." He said. "Gather the men, we leave for the cave instantly." The scout nodded and ran off to do as he was told. Prakash grabbed Satira and pulled her to her feet.

"I've waited a long time." He said as she continued to stare blankly at the ground. He fingered the locket and let it drop as Sarkan tied Satira to his arm.

"Lets go." He ordered as he left the tent, Sarkan following obediently, pulling Satira with him.

By the time Yoko made it within hearing distance of the Raider camp, he saw that the place was deserted. He looked around and put his fingers to his mouth. He gave off a shrill whistle as another fox demon appeared from within one of the tents.

"Well?" Yoko asked as the fox walked closer.

"They left for the cave." He informed them.

"Wow, the raiders aren't wasting any time." Amira said.

"Prakash has probably been after that locket for years." Hiei said. "It's logical that he won't waste time."

Yoko nodded. "Then we better get moving if we want to catch up to him." Yoko said as hey turned on his heels.   
"Wait a moment!" Amira called after him as she jogged after him. "Care to share the plan now?" she asked him.

"We save Satira." He answered. "That is all that matters."


	37. Trying to resist

Sarkan had expected Satira to be putting up more of a fight, but the she didn't. She followed obediently wherever he led her, staring at the ground in depressed silence. Prakash paid no attention to anything else other than getting to the cave as fast as possible, his mind racing with ideas of what was behind the wall.

"An artifact?" He said to himself. "One that will give me more power than I have ever dreamed off, once I have it, I will crush that sneaky Yoko." Prakash balled his hands into fists and smiled greedily.

"Finally, it's my turn." He said as he finally saw the cave in the distance.

"Speed it up!" he shouted as they all picked up their pace.

Yoko, Hiei and Amira stayed a fair distance behind the last person in Prakash's little group. Yoko's eyes straining to see Satira and if she was ok.

"He's interested in the treasure." Hiei said to him reading his thoughts. "He won't risk hurting her."

Yoko looked at Hiei. "I know, I'm just concerned." He said.

"There is the cave." Amira spoke up. "Can someone PLEASE share the master game plan with me NOW!" She was getting annoyed with being out of the loop.

"Just stay here and don't get in the way." Hiei said not even looking at her. "That shouldn't be too hard, but then again it is you we are talking about."

Amira's eyes narrowed as she leaped at Hiei and tackled him to the ground. Yoko stopped, growling in aggravation as he used vines to separate the fighting duo.

"STOP IT!" He hissed at them. "You two can continue your little love spats later!" He looked back and forth at them, daring them to protest to his statement. "But right now my mate is out there thinking I betrayed her, so forgive me if I seem a little on edge." He stepped back at their vines loosened. "Now…do you think you two have the mental capacity to act like your older than 13!" he asked.

Hiei and Amira looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes and then away. "Fine." They both said simultaneously.

"Good." Yoko said as he started to walk off.  
"But tell me what is going to happen." Amira persisted.

"We follow them to the cave, letting Prakash believe he is going to get away with it. Then before he can get at whatever it is, we jump in and get it first." Yoko explained.

"We already have thieves hiding in the cave for backup." Hiei added. "They've been there since yesterday."

Amira nodded, satisfied. "And what about Satira?" She asked.

"I'll worry about her, just make sure that whatever is in there, Prakash doesn't get." Yoko said as they entered the mouth of the cave.

Satira sighed as they neared the dead end wall. It had been all for nothing. She had kept it safe and hidden for so long and now…She didn't even want to think about it. She shivered from cold as they stopped at the wall. She gulped, nervous about what would happen next.

"Bring her." Prakash demanded to Sarkan. Sarkan nodded and walked toward him, pulling Satira.

"NO!" she protested as she dug her heels into the ground. "You can't do this! You don't know what's in there!"

"Shut up!" Prakash yelled as he backhanded her. "You will do as you're told."

Satira's cheek burned from the slap as the locket around her neck faintly glowed blue and faded. She shook her head and stared at him.

"You're making a mistake, this place was never meant to be opened."

"OPEN IT!" He yelled at her as she shook her head.

"NO!" she argued back as he slapped her again.  
"DO IT!"

"MAKE ME!" she hissed, her tail fluffed out as he gave her an evil smile.

"If you don't open that door, I will have fun killing Yoko nice and slow right in front of your eyes." He threatened.

Satira's bit her lip and shook her head. "No." she whispered.

"Open it." Prakash demanded as Sarkan let go of the rope. Hanging her head in defeat Satira took a step forward to the carving.


	38. Power Struggle

Satira took off the locket and held it in her hands, standing before the inscription on the cave wall.  
"What are you waiting for!" Prakash demanded. "Do it now!"

Satira looked back at him and slowly reached up to place the locket in the little indention made for it.

"SATIRA!" A familiar voice called as Yoko, Hiei, and Amira ran up. Satira whirled around.

"YOKO!" She gasped in surprise. "You came back!"

"You honestly didn't think I would just LEAVE you here did you!" He asked her, pretending to be hurt. "You're my mate." She said starting to move over to her lovingly when Sarkan stepped in front of him.

Prakash's eyes narrowed. "You're too late fox!" He shouted as he snatched the locket from Satira and shoved it into the opening. The cave erupted with blue light as Satira grabbed the locket by the chain and pulled it back out.  
"NO!" she cried holding the locket close to her. Prakash grabbed the chain as well as the two started a tug of war.

"Let go!" Prakash hissed at her.

"Never." She replied as she pulled back. 'I won't let you have it!"

Yoko whistled for his thieves as they came out of their hiding spots. Prakash glanced around infuriated.  
"KILL THEM!" he ordered as he turned his attention back to Satira. "Get rid of them!" Yoko and Prakash's thieves both charged at one another and the room exploded with action.

Hiei and Amira fought back to back as Yoko faced off against Sarkan trying to get to Satira who was battling Prakash for the locket. Everyone was so busy fighting that no one had noticed that the blue light that had filled the cavern when Prakash has inserted the locket had diminished, and a light blue smoke was coming from a crack in the cave wall that ran from top to bottom, running right in the middle of the place were the locket had been.

The smoke curled around their legs harmlessly as it swirled around the room.

"Get out of my way!" Yoko said to Sarkan as he pulled out his vine whip.

"You think I don't know your tricks?" Sarkan asked as he pulled out his scythe. "Allow me to prune that weed of yours." He quipped as he made a slash at Yoko's chest. Yoko dodged and flicked his wrist expertly as his vine whip wrapped around the handle of the scythe. He tried to pull the weapon away from Sarkan who resisted with all his strength.

A group of Prakash's men had encircled Hiei and Amira. The two stood back to back.

"Try not to slow me down." Hiei said to her. Amira smirked as she gazed at her opponents. "We'll see who's the slow one." She replied as she shot out with amazing speed and cut down two of the men in one hit. Hiei was right behind her as he blocked an attack and stabbed another. The two fought along side each other when Hiei noticed one of Prakash's lackeys sneaking up behind Amira.

"Behind you!" He warned as he ran to intercept the attack, but Amira was too fast. She whirled around in time to see Prakash's man running full speed at her, his sword out to impale her. Thinking fast she pulled out a medium length dagger she carried in her belt and crossed the two hilts of her weapons together, forming an X. She brought it down on her enemy's weapon, pinning it to the ground as she lithely jumped over her swords and kicked at the man, sending him into the wall as she gracefully spun around and flipped her weapons up, catching them in the air.

Hiei stared at her in shock, impressed with her move. Amira gave him a flirtatious wink as they both ran to help out Yoko and Satira.

Meanwhile, Satira and Prakash continued their power struggle, neither willing to give an inch. Eventually, the strain of the opposing forces was too much for the necklace as it broke. Satira and Prakash both fell back with a cry as the locket flew up and then back down to the ground, shattering into pieces.

"NO!" Satira cried as the smoke that had filled the room instantly turned a dark blue and a roar echoed throughout the cavern.


	39. Behind the Cavern Door

The roar shook the cavern as everyone froze.

"What is that?" Amira asked softly to Hiei.

"What makes you think I know!" He snapped at her.

"The way you talk you think you know everything." She retorted as Yoko glared at her to shut up.

The roar continued for a moment and then died out. The cavern stopped shaking as everyone looked around.

Prakash opened his mouth to speak when a stream of light shot out from the locket hole in the wall, cutting a path down the middle. Thieves jumped out of the way as the light races past them, extending on as far as they could see. Satira stared at the light, confused.

'_What is this?'_ She thought puzzled. She then noticed the light blue fog around their feet as it rose and began to intertwine with the beam of light. The temperature began to sharply decline as she wrapped her hands around her arms.

"It's….so cold." She whispered. Puffs of smoke emanated from her mouth which joined the light as soon as it left her mouth. She gasped in surprise, another puff following the first.

"Don't speak." Yoko instructed everyone, breaths coming out of his mouth as well. The beam of light slowly faded and the smoke dissipated.

"What's going on?" Amira finally ventured. Yoko's eyes darted about the cave.

Prakash, who had been standing stunned, looked at Satira. "This is all your fault!" He accused stepping toward her. "You broke the key!" He reached out to grab her when Yoko was at her side in an instant.

"Take one more step and you'll wish you hadn't!" he said in a cold voice. Prakash looked up at the deadly serious Yoko, his arm around Satira protectively.

The room shook again as the roar from before came back, its loud voice shattering the silence. Satira looked down and gasped as she eyed the pieces of the broken locket. They took on a golden hue as they melted into the cave floor.

"My locket!" She yelled in despair as she bent down to try to grab the pieces. She grabbed one as it melted in her hand. The golden liquid ran through her fingers and joined the pool on the ground as it was absorbed into the hard stone. Her mouth hung open in distress when Yoko put a hand on her shoulder.  
"Look." He instructed softly as she looked up at the indention in the wall. The liquid had pooled into the heart shape and was hardening.

"It's fixing itself." She said softly, hope returning to her.

Yoko looked at it suspiciously as the locket hardened into the wall. "I don't think so." He said gently to her as the cavern began to rumble. Satira held onto Yoko as he wrapped his arms around her to steady her. Amira was knocked into Hiei's arms as she looked up into his red eyes. She quickly pushed herself out but she could have sworn his arms had tightened around her, just for a second.

"Throwing yourself at me?" He asked her smugly. Amira steadied herself.  
"Don't hold your breath." She quipped. Their attention was drawn to the wall as it slowly started to spread apart.

"It's a door." Satira voiced.

"Finally!" Prakash said as he inched closer. "My treasure!" He curled his hands into fists triumphantly.

"Do you know what the first thing I am going to do is?" He asked looking at Yoko. Yoko narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

Prakash opened his mouth to answer as the walls stopped opening and all was still. Prakash looked around frantically.  
"Where is it!" He demanded to know. Yoko looked down at Satira who shrugged, as clueless as everyone else.

"My treasure! WHERE IS IT!" He yelled whirling around to Satira.

"How should I know?" she said defensively as a thin line of something blue shot out from the newly opened path and hit Satira in the heart.

Satira's eyes registered her shock as she fell backwards. Yoko quickly moved to catch her as she fell into his arms.

"Satira!" He said urgently, looking over her to see what was wrong. Amira and Hiei made their way over as well.

"What happened?" Amira asked.

"Something hit her!" Yoko explained as he gently shook her. "Satira?" He said again. Prakash was getting annoyed.

"WHERE IS IT!" He demanded to know as he walked to where the wall had opened. "My treasure! Where is it!" He hissed.

Yoko ignored him as he held his mate.

Sarkan took a step forward as Hiei moved in front of him. "I wouldn't step forward if you value your life." He warned, his sword pointed at his throat.

Prakash's eyes narrowed as he pushed past Hiei and Sarkan, roughly grabbing the unconscious Satira and shaking her.  
"WHERE IS IT!" He yelled at her. Yoko growled and made a move to wring Prakash's neck when Satira's eyes shot open, blue flames showing in her eyes.


	40. What They Found

Everyone stood still, looking at Satira. She stared, straight ahead, giving no sign that she knew anyone was there.

"Satira?" Yoko finally said as she turned her head sharply toward him. Her eyes glowed a deadly blue as she gazed at him.

"You alright?" He asked stepping forward toward her. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, daring him to take another step toward her. The cold look stopped him in his tracks.

Meanwhile, Prakash was fuming. He had no clue what was going on, but his treasure was missing and he was pissed. He stalked toward Satira, while her attention was on Yoko and roughly grabbed her shoulder. "Alright! Where…" he was cut off as she quickly spun around and grabbed his arm, throwing him over her shoulder, sending him crashing into the wall in front of her. Sarkan immediately ran over to his fallen leader and helped him up. Hiei and Amira stared at Satira with a mixture of admiration and confusion. Prakash stood up and looked at Satira, at a loss for words. Satira said nothing, just stared back at him, daring anyone to make another move toward her.

"Satira!" Yoko called, trying to snap her out of it.

"I am not Satira!" A deep male voice answered. Everyone took a step back, startled as the blue mist returned, circling around her body as a dragon like head began to form. It twisted around her, it's head stopping above hers, watching everyone.

"What is that!" Amira demanded to know.

Hiei looked at it. "Seems to be a dragon." Amira growled.

"Thanks for that observation genius!" She said to him.

"Who are you?" Yoko voiced over their arguing.

The dragon looked at the fox. "I am a glacieragon." It answered. Hiei's eyes widened with recognition.

"An ice dragon." He informed Yoko. "One of the more powerful kinds of dragon and very rare."

"Where is my treasure!" Prakash demanded pulling away from Sarkan. He marched toward the dragon head defiantly. The dragon looked at him, it's teeth bared in aggression.

"I don't think there is one!" Hiei taunted. "You did all this work for nothing. Your a fool to beleive every legend you hear."

"Hiei…" Amira said said to him tearing her eyes away from Satira. "I think the dragon...is the treasure." Hiei glared at her to keep her mouth shut as she tossed him a snarl back.

Hearing what Amira said, Sarkan moved toward Satira and Prakash.

"He is your master!" Prakash yelled out suddenly, taking a chance on what he just heard Amira say. The dragon looked at him, his snarl fading a little.

"He released you from your prison." He finished. The dragon looked at Sarkan as he misted away back into Satira.

Sarkan looked at Prakash as he nodded to him. Sarkan took another step toward Satira, who made no movement at all. Smiling confidently he grabbed her arm and led her toward the mouth of the cave.

"Wait a minute!" Yoko yelled going to stop him when a blast of ice shot out from Satira's hand and propelled him into the wall. Amira ran over to help him as Hiei watched intently. Sarkan's face lit up with amusement and joy.

"That's a good pet." He told Satira. "Men! Come." He ordered as Sarkan, Prakash and his men trooped out., Yoko watching them stunned.


	41. Some Answers and New Plans

The thieves, Yoko especially, couldn't move from the shock. Satira had just left with the men she had been running from…willingly!

"I…I don't get it!" Yoko finally admitted, the cool fox for once at a loss in what to do.

Hiei looked over at him lazily. "What isn't to get?" He asked. "The mist we kept seeing, the temperature in this cave, it was because of the dragon." He told him.

Yoko shook his head. "No, I mean she just left with them! After all I did to come back for her, after I asked her to…" he dropped off staring at the way Prakash had left.

"Because that wasn't really her!" Hiei said irritated.

Yoko looked at the fire demon with a raised eyebrow.  
"Didn't you hear what it said?" Amira asked him. "I am not Satira." She reminded.

"Then what is it!" Yoko asked. His normally calculating brain was frustrated that she had gone. Clouded by his affections for her, he wasn't thinking straight.  
"The dragon." A theif said catching on. Hiei nodded in agreement.

"One thing I don't get…" Amira questioned softly. "Is…how she _became_ the dragon."

"That thing that hit her must have been the transfer." Yoko concluded remembering the shot of blue that had hit her in the chest.

"You're all focusing on the wrong questions." Hiei said suddenly. "We don't need to know the who or the what or the how. That's not important right now." He told them. "We need to know the why."

There was silence when Yoko spoke up. "The locket." He said, realization in his voice as everything clicked into place. "It was the key to open the door."

"Duh." Amira muttered to herself, crossing her arms.

"But it wasn't just the key, it was the container as well." Yoko continued ignoring her.

"Container?" Another thief asked, voicing his confusion.

"The heart locket was meant to contain the dragon after it's release." Hiei explained. "However, in Satira and Prakash's little tussel, the locket broke."

"But it repaired itself!" Amira said, cutting into Hiei's explanation. "So..shouldn't it still have gone to the locket?" After all, it seemed to be the logical option. She figured that if the locket was it's intended home, that it would repair it, and then go into it.

"Let me finish!" He hissed at her, annoyed at being interrupted. She scowled back at him, crossing her arms.

"It repaired itself enough to become the key, but after that it was useless. The cracks in the locket's surface wouldn't have contained the dragon. So it went to the necklace's owner."

"How did it know she was the owner?" A theif inquired.

"It didn't. She was just the last one who touched it." Yoko joined in. "Therefore it went into her instead."

Amira rubbed her temples. "This is too weird." She told them. "So Satira is being possessed by some glaceiragon, and she went with them because…" She dropped off expecting an answer to be said.

"Because Prakash beat us in declaring the dragons' master." Hiei finished.

"And that leaves us with a very big problem." Yoko added. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So, what's next?" Amira asked Yoko. "We follow them?"

"No." He replied shaking his head. "We don't have enough information. We have to regroup, get in some surveillance, find out what Prakash's next move is before we make our own."

Hiei and Amira nodded in agreement.

"Back to the hideout." Yoko ordered to everyone. "NOW!"


	42. The Ensuing Confusion

Sarkan practically pranced back to their base, head held high in pride as the now possessed Satira calmly followed after him. When he had first found the engraving on the cave wall, he had thought nothing of it. But after hearing of an ancient legend from his father, he managed to put two and two together. Since then, he had become obsessed with finding the way to open it. A couple of informants, a tortured captive or two and he finally found out that the key was in Cat City and in the possession of the royal family. He then had schemed and planned for years until the necklace was passed down to the heir and then he struck.  
He had through that getting the key from the young neko princess would have been easier than it was, but she had been quite clever in evading his grasp for so long. He, however, was the victorious one in the end. The cavern hadn't been filled with jewels and treasure and the type of weapon he had imagined, but what he got was better! With the dragon's host as his rival's new girlfriend, there was no way he could lose.  
Prakash moved up to his master's side.

"What are we to do now my Lord?" He asked curiously. Now that the weapon was in there possession, he was anxious to see the full extent of its abilities.  
Sarkan looked at his second curiously. "You ask as though you have a suggestion," He replied. His eyebrow arching in question.

Prakash answered back with a small nod. "I would like permission to test out the dragon's abilities." He risked a quick glance at the silent feline. She had perfect posture as she stood three paces behind them. Her stare was cold and unwavering and the breeze in the air seemed to turn to an icy mist around her. The soilders kept a wide berth around her, not wanting to get to close.

Sarkan mulled over the idea for a moment. Seeing what the new addition to their team could do was far from a bad idea. He smiled.

"Yes, I think that would be good idea." An evil thought popped into his head and he rubbed his hands together gleefully.

"And I know JUST where to do it."

The quickly darkening forest was unusally quiet of the night calls of owls and other noctural creatures as a band of thieves raced through the underbrush. The moon was rising in the darkening sky and clearly lit the treeless path that guided them back to their destination.  
Yoko, Hiei, and Amira made no rest stops that night as they ran back to the base. Their silent feet hitting the ground leaving no evidence that anyone had been there at all as they dashed through the night. The thieves that had accompanied then were having a hard time keeping up with their leaders, even as well trained as they were. Amira was the first to notice the pants and slowed gait as the gap between them and the thieves lengthened.

"We should rest." She suggested abruptly to Yoko as they ran on.

"No time." He answered back just as quick, not even bothering to look at her. His golden eyes staring straight ahead thinking of only one thing.

"But not all of us have the endurance you do," Amira retorted smartly.

Yoko glared at her, sliding to a stop in his anger. "I realize that you are tired, but I, however, have a possessed MATE to deal with and she is currently in enemy hands so if you want to stop and take a little cat nap then by all means stay behind and do it, but I have more important things to think about!" He snapped angrily, his hands balling into fists.

"And what about those in your service?!" Hiei spoke up stopping as well. Yoko rounded on the calm fire demon, about to retort when he saw the panting and exhaustion of his thieves that had finally managed to catch up. His frustration subsided when he realize that Amira wasn't asking for a break for herself, but for them. They were all highly trained and used to traveling to destinations. But in Yoko's haste to get Satira back, he was pushing them past their limits. They might be highly trained, but they weren't the class S type demon that Yoko was or the class A that Amira and Hiei were.

"Fine," Yoko relented. "We can rest here for the night, but I demand an early start!" He warned and stalked off before another word was said.  
Amira and Hiei watched the anxious fox as he wandered off into the dark woods. The moonlight that illuminated his silvery hair was soon cut off as the shadows of the trees hid him from sight.

"You help the men get settled for tonight." Amira told Hiei. "I'll go talk to Yoko."

"Fine, but see if you can do something about this attitude." Hiei sniffed.

Amira looked at him. "He's worried about her." She explained. "He loves her and its clouding his judgment."

"And it will get us killed if he doesn't fix it. His cunning is what has kept all of us alive, and his cunning is what will get her back."

"Putting your love for someone on the back burner of your mind is easier said than done." Amira answered softly as she started following Yoko. "But you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

Hiei watched silently as the wolf followed the path Yoko had taken as he turned to direct the tired thieves.

"I might know more than you think."


	43. Evil Intentions

Yoko stood alone in forest on the outskirts of his territory. His eyes were closed; face tilted upwards to catch the beams of the full moon that shone done on him from above. The stars winked at him, as if mocking his loss. But even in his grieving state, he opened his eyes, hearing the sound of Amira's padded steps behind him.

"What?" He demanded impatiently.

"We'll get her back," Amira reassured gently, but sternly. "But she's a tough girl, she can take care of herself until we do."

"You don't understand do you!" Yoko rounded, his voice raising. "I promised her it would be ok! I told her I wouldn't let anything happen and now…now she's possessed by some ice dragon and in the clutches of the person I was supposed to be protecting her from!" Yoko whipped a tree in half with his rose whip in frustration. The oak fell back with a groan and snagged on the surrounding timbers. The leaves rustled with the foxes unbridled anger as he vented his fury on the innocent plant. Amira wisely waited him out, till his thorned whip curled around his feet, resting.

Yoko took deep breaths, trying to calm himself and regain his composure. Amira had never seen him like this before. The infamous thief was always so composed and sure of every move. Now he was lost and confused, a fox without his mate.

"Is everyone resting?" He asked with guilt, concerned about how hard he had pushed his men.

Amira nodded. "Hiei is delegating tasks. They will follow you to the ends of the earth, but you keep pushing them and they won't last much longer."

"I realize that." He sighed soulfully. "I'll repay them for their support once this is all over. But until she is back, I'm going to have to ask for a little more than 100 percent." He warned.

Amria cracked a smile and stepped toward him. "We'll give it."

Yoko turned to face her. "Thank you." And with that he walked back to his men. Amira watched him go, the faint scent of roses still lingering from his presence. He was going to be ok, and she knew that if anyone could lead a successful rescue mission. It was him.

Hiei looked up as their leader emerged a while later from the forest. He seemed to have calm down since he had stormed off, and hopefully was thinking clearer as well. Yoko gave Hiei a nod of thanks to which Hiei simply shrugged it off. It was his job after all.

"What is the fastest way to that fox's hideout!" Sarkan demanded to know of his subordinates.

They had decided to stop before actually reaching the closest Raider camp, even though it wouldn't have taken much longer. Sarkan had his troops set up their tents and was having a discussion with Prakash about their new plan to test out Satira's abilities. The cat was sitting elegantly on her kneeses, resting on a cushion in Sarkan's tent, eyes staring straight forward.

Since the glacieragon had merged with her, she hadn't spoken more than two words. She merely followed her 'master' and had the readiness to attack like a coiled spring.

Prakash was quick to roll out a map of the surrounded territory into a collapsible wooden desk they used while traveling.

"I think that if we take this secret path through the woods, without stopping, we might be able to circumvent them and beat them there."

"But I want to be _SURE_ that we beat them there." Sarkan insisted, pounded his fist on the table.

Prakash let go of the map as it rolled up on itself and he straightened up.

"We would be cutting it close." He admitted slowly. Sarkan's face darkened with a scowl.

"I don't want him showing up and ruining my fun."

Prakash nodded. "Then a diversion?"

Sarkan's scowl disappeared into a sadistic smirk. "Yes, a diversion is a perfect idea. Something to keep them busy!"


	44. Interuptions

Yoko awoke the next morning to the sounds of yells and the clang of metal. He was instantly alert and jumped up to see what was the commotion. All his men were engaged in a vicious fight with what looked like half the Raider camp. His rose whip elongated in his hand as he snapped it at one that was running towards him, sword raised for the attack.

His whip caught the attackers sword, wrapping tightly around the hilt. Yoko jerked back and swung in an arc, the sword ripped out of his assailants hands and then following the path of the whip turned to kill its former possessor.

"What is going on here!" He demanded to know of anyone who knew the answer.

"They just showed up and attacked!" A thief yelled as he stabbed one and spun around to engage another, barely blocking the blow in time.

Yoko quickly dispatched the enemies around him with a flick of the wrist and ran to where he saw Hiei and Amira fighting.

"You're losing your touch." Hiei growled as the fox approached. "I thought you were supposed to be able to sense these things!"

The fire demon lithely jumped out of the way of a soldier wildly swinging an axe and stabbed him in the back before landing next to Yoko.

"But this attack doesn't make sense." Yoko added fighting an nearby soldier. "They have nothing to gain! They have Satira already and we don't have anything of value. Sarkan didn't send enough to wipe us out."

"Well then he must have something else in mind!" Amira yelled falling out of the tree above. She hurdled to the ground, a soldier clinging to her back. The wolf demon spun in mid-air and landed with the soldier on the bottom, taking the brunt of the fall. She deftly picked herself up, dusting off her shoulder and catching her weapon as it followed her path out of the trees.

"Perhaps an encouragement to stay away from the feline?" Came Hiei's reply.

"He knows he'll have to kill me for that."

"And these soldiers aren't trained for that." Amira pointed out.

She looked around, seeing that most of the soldiers had either run off or been cut down by the thieves. There were a few wounded, but mostly dead soldiers lying around. Their weapons lay beside their fallen owner's covered in dirt more than enemy blood. Eventually, the last of the skirmishes subsided completely, and Yoko and his thieves were left to ponder the suddenness of the attack.

"They weren't sent for nothing," Yoko mused, a suspicious look in his golden eyes. "Let's hurry back to the hideout."

It mere moments, Yoko and his thieves had gathered what little they had and set a fast pace back to the hideout, leaving the bodies of their enemies and the cawing of birds behind them.

Sarkan continued ahead along his chosen route followed by twenty of his elite guard. They were more a formality than a requirement, but Sarkan didn't like to leave things to chance. The group would only stop long enough to relay messages by Fortescue, a falcon demon who flew back and forth between the diversion groups and Sarkan's. Fortescue had just returned with the news that Yoko was once again on and move and that they had lost over thirty men in the morning's fight.

"She more than makes up for what we lost!" Sarkan yelled at Prakash when he suggested not attacking. Satira still had not said a word since her possession and apparently needed no food or rest. She had been awake when Sarkan went to sleep and was in the same position when he woke. She hadn't eaten a single thing and seemed to run on an endless supply of energy. This delighted Sarkan to no end. Not only did the possessed cat seem invincible, she also seemed to need neither food nor rest.

"Continue with the plan!" Sarkan demanded of both Prakash and Fortesque. The falcon nodded and spread his tawny wings.

"Tell the next group to be ready, the fox will run right into them."

An evil smile lingered on his lips. "Make sure they know to keep them busy as long as possible! I don't care what they do just slow him down. And if all else fails…" He chuckled evilly to accent his intentions.

"Tell Morina not to disappoint me."


	45. More Hinderences

"He's stalling us!" Amira yelled out the obvious as she battled against another of Sarkan's horde.

"Ya think!" Hiei retorted as he did the same, blocking one blow in time to dodge another. Yoko also had his hands full as he expertly swung his whip and utilized the forest plants to help him fend off Sarkan's soldiers. One vine shot out of the ground and wrapped itself tightly around the ankle of a charging warrior, while another vine pinned another soldier to a tree.

"Defeat them as fast as you can and keep going," Yoko ordered as he sent a wave of men flying away from him.

"It'll be dark soon," Hiei reminded.

The fox glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He knew that. He could see the setting sun just as easily as Hiei. But Yoko knew the warning that came with it. Even though Sarkan's men were easily no match for Yoko's thieves, they had still suffered losses. There were also plenty that were wounded. Sarkan had not let up on his relentless wave of attacks and what his men needed now was rest. Getting back to the hideout would have been less than a day's journey, but with the constant stream of fighters it had forestalled their homecoming. Just as fast as the scuffle began, Yoko and his group warded off the soldiers as those that weren't killed limped off into the encroaching darkness. Yoko panted heavily as the last one disappeared in the shadows.

"We're resting here," Amira decided for him, sitting down against a tree. Her chest heaved with exhaustion.

Yoko rounded on her, angry for making the decision, but she held up her hand. "NO! We are resting here for tonight!" She repeated firmly before he could even open his mouth.

"I'm tired, they are tired, and you are tired. We can get back to the hideout tomorrow first thing in the morning."

She crossed her arms stubbornly, daring him to challenge her. Yoko retracted his vine whip and walked off without a word. His lips met in a thin line and his fists clenched. Amira sighed and leaned her head back tiredly against the rough bark. Exhausted thieves slumped against trees and fell instantly to sleep. The moon began peeking out between the patchwork of leaves that surrounded them. Stars glittered cheerfully in the darkening sky as if defying their somber mood.

"We can probably expect more of the same tomorrow," Hiei guessed; coming to sit down next to her. He laid his kantana within reach by his side; his face frozen in his ever present scowl.

"And Yoko is already irritable."

"Irritable or not, getting to the hideout won't bring the feline back sooner."

"He thinks it will," she told him softly. She looked at him, her eyes full of concern. "He loves her."

Hiei growled slightly and rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone keep saying that!" He demanded to know; his voice irritated.

"Because he does!" She reminded, confused at his outburst.

"SO WHAT!"

Amira blinked in shock. "What?" she asked. Her voice came out in a surprised whisper. The notion that Hiei didn't care that Yoko was in love never occurred to her. She had always assumed the two were close friends. Finding out your friend was in love was a good thing to celebrate. At least, that is what she thought. She was happy for them. The fox had been alone so long. Then Satira had stumbled into their lives and he was noticeably happier. He smiled a lot more, was in a generally better mood, and the things under his care thrived because of it. The cat herself was also nice to have around, and Amira had never gotten the impression that she rubbed Hiei the wrong way. And here he was, practically yelling, that he didn't care.

"What do you mean so what?" She repeated hoarsely.

Hiei was already so mad he didn't realize he had said too much. He stood up and paced in front of her angrily. His hands were balled into fists and his perpetual scowl was even darker than normal.

"She's been nothing but trouble!" He began, glaring at Amira like it was her fault. The other thieves watched the two cautiously from the sidelines. Some nodding in agreement, others merely being mute in reverent understanding of their masters plight.

"It's not her fault she didn't have a perfect life Hiei!" Amira defended. "She was in trouble and that is what friends do! They help each other out!"

"But it almost got _you_ in trouble!" Hiei shouted, the source of his anger finally being said.

Amira's eyes widened; while Hiei turned a deep shade of red. His mind slowly repeated his words and he realized his feelings couldn't be hidden any longer.


	46. Taking a rest

The silver fox stalked around in the moonlight forest. His fists were balled, and his mouth was beginning to get a permanent crease that shaped his expression into an angry frown. His silver ears lay flat against his silver hair and his tail lashed angrily from side to side. He _hated_ having his authority challenged. And yet Amira had been right in her assessment of the rest the team needed. He closed his eyes, seeking some kind of solace for the pain in his heart. Satira was still apart from him, and he felt responsible. He should have been able to protect her. He should have been able to stop that thing from possessing her. He should have fulfilled the promise he made her. He should have done a lot of things.

His shoulders sagged and he opened his eyes. Nothing. Empty woods that thrummed with the hum of cicadas and chirping of crickets. He moved forward, his thieving instincts taking over so he didn't make a sound through the forest. An owl watched him pass and a small raccoon darted out in front of him. He ignored both. A stream cut through the forest floor and Yoko bent down near the waters edge. Moonlight allowed him a glimpse of his reflection and he saw the dirt and dried blood from the numerous battles that caked his face. He cupped his hands together and washed, the cold water a wake up call to his senses.

He looked once again at his reflection as the ripples in the water ebbed away. A saddened thief stared back at him. A broken hearted man. His face hardened in determination. He would _NOT_ let Sarkan win. The Raider had gone too far and Yoko would not lose her. A new vigor swelled in his chest; he could still win this. And it would take the old Yoko to do it. Standing up, he began to survey the flora around him. A patch of poppies bobbed in the wind to his right, and he recalled seeing some chamomile on his walk to the river. He grabbed the poppies. They would help in pain relief. He was sore from their stringent journey, and knew the others were as well. The chamomile would act as a calming agent to soothe their nerves. He pulled a pouch attached to his waist and surveyed his seeds. Comfrey, would help prevent infections and with broken bones. Hawthorn would amplify the chamomile. That and a couple other things would boost his thieves enough till they reached the hideout. Once there, they could regroup. He smiled to himself. He would get her back in no time.

A rustle in the brush to his left snapped him back to defense mode. His rose whip was instantaneously ready, and he stood his ground, ready for what he assumed was another Sarkan attack.

A haggard looking tiger demon stumbled out of the thicket. White with black striped ears and tail, brown hair, and those emerald eyes he could get lost in for days. "Satira!" His voice was hoarse in shock.

"Yoko." She gasped, falling forward weakly. Yoko shot forward to catch her, as she fell against his chest. He pulled her toward him tightly, refusing to ever let go.

"I found you." She whispered as he cradled her in his arms. He carried her silently to the river and gently carried water to her parched lips.

"How did you get here?" He wanted to know earnestly. "What about that thing that took over you? Where is Sarkan?" His mind whirled, wanting to know how she had gotten there. Especially without his notice.

"Ever since that glacieragon came into me. I fought with it. I finally won and returned to normal. Sarkan thought I was still under control so I was able to get away without his notice." She drank thirstily as Yoko continued to help her drink. She paused long enough to swallow the handful of water he offered before finishing her sentence. "I followed your scent." She smiled weakly. "You smell like roses."

He smiled gently at her assessment of his scent. Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead. "So do you." He told her softly.

"Because of you." She replied, weakly touching his cheek. Yoko gently took her hand and pulled her closer to him.

"I'm so glad you're here." He said softly, his lips close to her face. "So you can tell me _WHERE SHE IS_!" His eyes suddenly sparked with anger as he roughly twisted the hand he was holding behind her back. He shoved her against the ground, pinning her as she screamed in surprise. His vines bound her legs and thighs tightly; he pulled her to a sitting position, fastening her arms firmly to her body. She struggled against her sudden imprisonment, making little kitten like mewls of pain. Yoko seized her by her collar, yanking her toward him so she could see the enraged fire in his eyes. "WHERE IS MY MATE!"


	47. New Opportunities

The face of his beloved slowly melted away to the face of Morina. The brown hair brightened into a blonde and green eyes changed to a vibrant unnatural red. The tiger stripes evaporated from her skin as Yoko glared even more.

"Don't make me ask again!" He growled, his knuckles white.

"How did you know?" She purred sweetly, not at all intimidated by his threats. Her features spread into a cheshire catlike grin, her face close to his.

"You smelled like roses." He informed her, revealing her mistake. "Satira doesn't smell like roses. She smells like catnip."

Morina rolled her eyes, "A rookie mistake on my part." She tried to shift to a more comfortable position in the tightly wound vines.

"Even if you got her scent correct, your off on a other couple things. Her left ear has a black tip, yours didn't. And you had too many stripes on your tail. She's also about two inches shorter than what you guessed."

The captured woman chuckled. "I told Sarkan I needed to get a look at her if he wanted an accurate clone, but he insisted there wasn't time. I thought I did quite well considering it was all based on verbal information."

"Where is she!" He shook her, intending to shake the answer of our of her if it was required.

"She's with Sarkan."

His eyes burned liked molten gold. "I want the location."

Morina was quite confident in her abilities, and quite able to take care of herself, but even she lost her nerve looking into Yoko's passioned expression. The fox wasn't playing games. He wanted her back, and he would do anything to achieve that end.

"I don't know." She admitted finally after a pause.

"Then you're of no use to me," His voice was deep and low and thorns began to push out of the vines.

Morina gave a startled squeak. "Wait! I can still get information!" She felt the thorns stop their growth and she sighed slightly in relief.

"I may not know where he is now, but I can find out."

"How!"

"I'll use our communication system. One of our messengers will be meeting with me shortly."

Yoko retracted the thorns fully. "And you're going to be there for that rendezvous." He stoop up, throwing the changeling over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

She huffed and tried futilely struggle. Yoko merely tightened his grip.

"This is NO way to treat a lady!" She yelled.

Her only response was a thick vine that wrapped in front of her mouth, leaving only her glares and muffled shrieks to express her anger.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Campsite *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Amira stared in shock at Hiei.

"That's what you're upset about?" She finally managed to say. Hiei's face was turning redder by the second. He hadn't planned on saying anything to Amira about his feelings. Feelings that he was positive he wouldn't ever experience. But whenever he was around her, he got a weird feeling in his stomach, and he was jealous if her attention wasn't on him. He looked for any excuse just to be around her and he had stopped trying to pretend he didn't a long time ago.

"You were worried about me?" Amira asked with a small smile. Her cheeks flushed. "You're so sweet."

"You're a teammate!" He growled, trying desperately to save his pride; knowing he was failing…badly.

Amira could see how embarrassed he was. He kept darting his eyes around and avoiding hers. His Jagan was glowing. He was reading her thoughts.

She slowly nodded her head. "Yes, a good team looks out for each other." She commented, deciding to leave it at that…for now. He could read her thoughts. He knew what she was thinking. Her eyes locked with his for a moment and unspoken words passed between them.

"Yeah." He finally muttered, nodding slightly, a secret agreement to her mental request.

He sat back down next to her, sitting a couple inches closer than he had been before; eyes specifically averted away from Amira's growing smile.


	48. Unnatural Occurances

The sun had chased away the night and Yoko and his thieves were once again on the move. Having gotten the information they needed from Morina's meeting, they had tied the two up and Yoko left three thieves behind to make sure they didn't escape. He was at a point now were he couldn't afford any more mistakes. Morina had provided the information that Sarkan was heading to Yoko's hideout with Satira. That much they knew. What he planned to do once he got there, he didn't know. Apparently Sarkhan had decided to keep that information to himself alone. The best they could hope for was to beat him there and be prepared. They had passed his border about twenty minutes ago. They were close to home.

Hiei and Amira appeared next to him as he led the others through the forest.

"No sign of Sarkan or Satira in the area." Amira responded dutifully. "I can't find anything to indicate that they have been here."

"Then we might be ahead of them, but keep alert. I want to know of anything that looks slightly out of the ordinary." Yoko ordered.

Amira nodded in confirmation, a blurred image of her indicating her sudden fast pace to fulfill her orders. Yoko turned to look at Hiei, who had been waiting for his turn.

"The guard posts are empty." Hiei responded solemnly. "No one is on guard. Amira may not have found trace of them, but something is wrong here."

Yoko merely turned to face forward thinking. Amira saw no sign of them, but Hiei claimed that the guard posts were empty? Yoko had trained his thieves better than that. Something had to be wrong for them to leave their posts unguarded; but if Amira said that there was no sign of Sarkan or his little minions, they should still be there. So how could both statements be true?

The group continued forward when Yoko came to a sudden stop. The thieves behind him bumped and jostled into one another, unprepared for the cease of their running. Amira walked up to the front rubbing her head annoyed.

"Want to let us in on what you're going to do next time!" She growled at Yoko. The silver fox paid no attention, just stared ahead in shock.

"What!" She growled louder, turning her head to see what was the problem. Her mouth fell open in a silent O. Hiei came to stand by her, the rest of the thieves all having the same reaction.

The normally green lush grass of spring had mysteriously started to die. As if an invisible line had been drawn and death began to slowly claim all vegetation worsening in form as it slowly moved inward. The line of death curved like a circle, and continued on in a gentle arc that stretched further than their eyes could see. The tiny purple flowers had slowly turned brown and further past that, black and the further inward it moved the worse it got. The colors of the ground went from green to rings of brown, then black, then a deathly white.

"Snow." Was all Yoko said looking at the wall of his hideout.

Little heaps of powered snow rested on the top, and more continued to gracefully fall from the sky, gently landing and spreading a white death on all it touched.

"It's snowing here?" Amira asked taking a step forward. "It's the middle of spring."

Hiei grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him.

Amira flashed him a look of irritation.

"You don't know what walking into that could do to you." He warned, keeping his hand on her arm, slightly loosening his grip. "Look what it did to the ground."

"It's snow." Amira reminded, for once not shaking off his touch.

"Unnatural snow." Yoko supplied. His stretched out his hand, trying to communicate with the dead plants. No response. "They are completely dead."

"We still have men in that hideout, we have to keep going." Amira insisted.

Yoko nodded. "Just us three." He ordered. "The rest of you stay here. It doesn't look like the snow spreads out this far. Wait here until further orders."

The thieves sat down where they stood, grateful at being able to avoid the cold and Yoko, Amira and Hiei slowly walked ahead. Their footsteps crunching in the fresh blanket of white.


	49. Frozen Over

The snow crunched under three pairs of feet and Hiei, Amira, and Yoko continued forward carefully. The further in they got, the deeper the snow became and more snow fell from the cloudless sky. Amira shaded her eyes and looked upward, trying to discern where it was coming from.

"It's like it just…magically appears," she said to the others. "There are no clouds in the sky."

"It's powerful magic," Hiei said, his Jagan glowing in the presence of such powerful elemental sorcery. "This must be why none of the guards were at their posts. They must have come to investigate and got caught up in it."

Yoko said nothing, silently observing. Sarkan must have done this. But how?

"This must have been why he wanted Satira," Yoko finally spoke.

"To make snow whenever he wants?" Amira said sarcastically.

"This is deadly snow. As you can see, the ground has completely withered because of it. All the way to the roots. I can't even bring them back." Yoko explained.

Hiei frowned. "We can't stay out too long in it. It isn't hurting us now, but that doesn't mean that it won't."

"Yes," Yoko agreed. "This snow has killed the ground, and yet hasn't hurt us."

"Maybe Sarkan doesn't want it to kill us yet." Amira suggested solemnly.

The three said nothing more; the snow so deep it came to their knees. Hiei was having a particularly difficult time of it. He tried to use his sword to slice a path from himself, but to no avail. Amira hid a smile.

"Didn't you say you were born on an island of ice?" She teased.

His glare could have burned the snow to ashes.

"This is different! I am a fire demon!" He snapped.

"Half fire demon." She reminded with a waggle of her finger, as if lecturing a child.

"And how is it _you_ know so much of me!" Hiei growled.

"Just because I don't cheat and read minds with a Jagan doesn't mean I don't have ways to find out what I want to know." Before Hiei could even reply Yoko silenced them with an outstretched arm. The two stopped their bickering and gasped.

The falling snow had lightened, even though it still came down in large amounts. A light frosty breeze blew over them as they stared at the scene before them. The front entrance door to the hideout was open, allowing them to see the training court and everyone on it. Everything was covering in a solid sheet of ice. From the wall that ran around the hideout, all the way to the individual thieves that had frozen right where they stood. Arrows from archers had frozen inexplicably in midair, floating frozen in their path. The archers themselves were also frozen and snow began collecting on their heads and shoulders. Thieves on the training ground had been stopped in mid-swing of their swords, staves, and other weapons. One even mimicked the arrows, in that he had jumped to cleave an enemy in two when the strange ice had frozen him in the air, his mighty sword frozen forever in his hands. "Everything is frozen!" Amira said in soft shock. "Everything and everyone." Yoko added.

"Look, even the arrows, mid-flight. They just…hang there. There is nothing connecting them to the ground." She stepped off the snow and onto the ice. Her foot slipped a little, but she immediately found Hiei's hand was there to steady her. Their eyes met for a moment before both looked away. Yoko stepped onto the slick surface as well, looking at everything.

"This is why he was heading here, and tried to slow us down." Yoko informed the other two. "He wanted to freeze this place before we got here."

"Braggart." Amira hissed angrily. "He's showing off what his new pet can do!" Yoko eyes flashed angrily as his head whirled to glare at Amira's choice of words. The golden wolf demon laid her wolf ears flat against her head in apology.

Hiei took out his sword and in a flash charged at a tree, slicing the trunk with his blade. Shards of ice splintered off and Hiei smirked superiorly when his face changed to shock when the ice reformed almost as soon as it was cut. Where his blade had hit the tree was now thicker than before.

"Try burning it." Amira suggested, eyeing the ice with suspicion.

Hiei conjured a small fire and aimed it at the tree. The flames engulfed the tree completely before it sizzled and died, the ice on the tree unfazed.

Yoko's eyes narrowed.

"Ice that can't be sliced, or burned." He looked up at the sky. The sun was still shining, even though the snow still continued to fall peacefully.

"We should get back to the others." Amira suggested.

Yoko nodded as well. "There is little we can do for them now." He agreed, looking at his frozen comrades.

Hiei snorted at the uncooperative ice and turned to leave with them.

"What now?" He questioned.

"We tell the others the situation. Then we find Sarkan. If Satira made this winter with that Glacieragon that is inside her, then she might be the only one who can thaw it."

"I can see why Sarkan would want this." Amira said, gently touching the arm of one of the thieves that usually accompanied her. Her eyes showed sadness for their loss. "Imagine what people would do to avoid seeing their homes trapped forever in this crystallized death?"

"And that is why we have to stop him." Yoko said striding forward. "At all costs."

Hiei stared at the fox's back. Yoko seemed to blend in perfectly with the snow and ice. His silver fur reflected the sun's light just as well as the ice, and his white clothing matched the snow. He was perfectly camouflaged.

"What if the only way to break this spell is death?" He said, not moving from his position. He spoke the question boldly, asking the one thing he knew Yoko didn't want to think about.

The wind blew over them with a small whistle. The only noise for what seemed like hours. Amira looked at Yoko for his answer and the silver fox sighed deeply. His shoulders seemed to sag and he didn't look at either of his two most trusted companions. When he spoke, his voice sounded full of pain, but his words were strong and clear.

"Then so be it."


	50. Setting Things in Motion

Sarkan was joyously dancing around his room, celebrating his triumph over Yoko Kurama. "I only wish I was there to see his face!" He chortled to Prakash, clenching his fists. "I turned his entire hideout into a frozen wasteland!" He continued to prance around as Prakash silently watched. His eyes turned to the cat demon in the corner. It was like she was frozen herself. She sat still on a small blue cushion and didn't move; sitting on her knee; hands folded in her lap as if waiting for an order. Her ice cold eyes stared straight ahead, looking blankly at the wall.

"What about the girl?" Prakash asked, turning his gaze away from her. She made him nervous. Like one misstep and she would burst and kill them all at any moment.

"What about her!" Sarkan wanted to know, stopping his dance to look indignant. He looked between the two of them. "She's fine." He announced dismissively. He walked to his desk and sat, breathing heavily from his exertion.

"Let's see, what do I want to conquer next." He mused, his fingers to his chin.

"Master Sarkan, I think we should wait before continuing." Prakash went to his lord and stood behind him, looking at the map Sarkan was studying. "We don't know how long her ice spells last, or what else she can do."

"Then we will figure it out later!" Sarkan brushed him off.

"He'll come for her."

Sarkan turned around in his chair and looked at Prakash, his eyes wide with anticipation. "I know." He grinned. "And when he does, he can serve me, or I will kill him. It's a win-win." He laughed again and looked fondly as the silent girl. "She is the perfect weapon." He stood up, his hand planted firmly on the desk. "Have my men alert me the moment that Yoko shows his face." He ordered, striding to the door. "I'll take care of him first."

Amira and Hiei followed Yoko as he walked back to the others. They waited silently while he explained the current situation as well. They had camped out just on the outer ring of Satira's icy touch. The frost seemed content to stay in place and seemed to have no inclination of spreading. However, it didn't recede either. It was a very precise attack. Every now and then a cold wind would blow from that direction, reminding all of them what they were fighting for.

"I want everyone to be ready to leave in 10 minutes," he ordered. The thieves nodded and dispersed.

"And how are we going to find them?" Hiei asked.

"I already dispatched Rykan to where we left Morina. She will tell us or face the consequences." Yoko replied smoothly.

"And then what? You just beat Sarkan till he lets Satira go and she unfreezes everything?" Amira added.

"I said I have it under control!" Yoko growled. "Don't undermine my authority! Just do as I asked!"

The two fell silent. Yoko sighed. "Forgive me. I need you two to run a special errand." He said softly. "You two are the fastest and I need you to meet up with us before we get to Sarkan. I will leave instructions on where to find us."

"You can count on us." Amira told him, somewhat reluctantly. She was not thrilled with the plan, but there didn't seem to be any alternatives. It was a no win situation. She trusted Yoko. She looked at Hiei. He was also not happy, but had resolved himself to do this as well. It was a better idea than either one of them had.

Yoko nodded, explaining in great detail what he wanted and as the rest of the thieves gathered around Yoko they two disappeared into the brush. He turned his attention back to the others.

"Until Rykan returns we do not know the exact location of Sarkan. But we do know the Raider's territory. We shall start there. Split up into teams and fan out. If you find anything report to me immediately."

The thieves all nodded in understanding and upon Yoko's signal broke apart, Yoko at the lead.


	51. Gathering the Pieces

Knowing the sensitivity of time on their mission, Hiei and Amira wasted precious minutes. Yoko was placing a lot of his hopes on the belief that what they were getting would fix this whole thing. Or at the very least make it more manageable.

"Is this even going to work?" Hiei finally asked her as they flitted through the forest.

"It has too," Amira replied, not looking at him. At the speed they were traveling, she had to watch ahead of her. Even glancing at Hiei for a moment could result in her crashing into something. "He's not going to stop until he frees her. So if we ever want to get things back to normal then we have to hope we can get that locket back."

"And the locket will solve everything?" Hiei asked, doubt toning his voice.

"You have a better idea!" She snapped in Yoko's defense. "It contained the glacieragon once. Surely, it has the power to do it again."

"But it broke," Hiei pointed out. "Making it useless."

Amira made a face, but didn't reply. The locket had broken in the fight. Perhaps it could be repaired with strong magic? She didn't know. She felt crazy for doing this. The whole thing seemed pointless like they were wasting their time. A part of her was ready to cut her losses and take off. Hiei would follow her, of that she was sure. He had less faith in this plan than she did. If they left, Yoko would have to solve his own problems.

She snapped out of her train of thought, shaking her head in defiance. No! She was loyal to Yoko. He had helped her out more times than she could remember. After all, she owed him a great deal. He had given her a home and a family when she thought she would never have that again. She would see this through. She was a wolf! Wolves were known for their loyalty. She just hoped Hiei stuck around.

"We have to try," She finally told Hiei.

"For Yoko?" He asked, wanting to know who she was doing this for.

She nodded. "For Yoko."

Hiei did not appreciate the run around. This glacieragon creature was dangerous and after seeing what it did to the hideout, well, he wasn't so eager to face it again.

The trees seemed to blend together as they ran past them toward the cave. His jagan gave him the advantage, allowing him to see a few seconds ahead. This made it easy to avoid any low hanging branches. Why was he even still here?

The question nagged at him. Was it for Yoko? He supposed that if he had anyone to call a friend it would be the fox. Until now, they had a common want, wealth and power. Working with Yoko had given him both. But this newest development wasn't serving his purpose. He cared little for the feline even though the fox had come to love her. He was sure, however, that once Yoko got the cat back, things would return to normal. Yes, that was why he stayed. Wasn't it?

His red eyes darted to look at the wolf next to him. The spots of sunlight that managed to make it to the forest floor made her gold fur flash like well shined treasure when she passed underneath it. Treasure, something he had always liked. He scowled. He hated that she sometimes reminded him of something he valued, and yet, a part of him liked it. Made him want to look at her more. Stupid she-wolf. She trusted that silver fox with her life. And now he was dragged along to make sure she didn't get herself killed over Yoko's potential mate. The thought made him blink. Was that why he stayed? To protect her?

"We have to rest soon." Hiei told her. He knew they could make it to the cave soon at their current speed, but they would be to exhausted to make it back the next day. They had to pace themselves.

Amira made a small noise to show she heard as the two broke out of their run to a jog, which slowed to a walk, and then finally a complete stop. They both sat down to catch their breath.

"Thanks," Amira muttered to him. If Hiei hadn't told her too, she would have kept right on going, pushing herself to exhaustion. A bad habit of hers that Hiei had noticed.

"There is water nearby."

Hiei took Amira's pack and pulled out their supply of food. "We continue at dawn."


End file.
